Georgi Parvanov was elected president of the Republic of Bulgaria on November 18, 2001. In his speech after being sworn in at Parliament as the new President of Bulgaria on January 19, Parvanov said that he will work for the economic and financial stability of the country, modern Bulgarian army, against corruption and crime. The leader of the Socialist party became the first former communist to win a presidential vote since the fall of communism in Bulgaria in the early 1990s.

Born on 28 June 1957, Parvanov joined the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) in 1981. In 1989, the BCP dethroned its chairman, Todor Zhivkov, and about a year later changed its name to Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). First elected to a party post in 1991, Parvanov climbed steadily up the party hierarchy to eventually be elected BSP chairman in December 1996. He replaced Zhan Videnov, whose discredited government was ousted by month-long street protests. Less than two months later, disobeying a party ruling, Parvanov and the BSP's prime minister-nominee Nikolay Dobrev, returned a mandate to form a new government to prevent an escalating crisis.

During the 1999 air bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, Parvanov and his parliamentary group voted against a resolution allowing NATO access to Bulgaria's air space. A year later, the Socialist leader declared his party's support for Bulgaria's foreign policy goal to join the EU and NATO.

Following his election victory, Parvanov confirmed his commitment to work for the achievement of those goals. His belief is that Bulgaria should also revive its relations with traditional partners in the past like Russia, Ukraine and others. Promising to work in close cooperation with any legitimate government, Parvanov promised to be president of all Bulgarians, stressing also a need for a stronger role of the state and a restored public confidence in statehood. Largely ceremonial, the Bulgarian presidential post has limited powers, but is important for the swift functioning of the institutions as well as for the country's international image. A historian by profession, Parvanov is also the author of a number of articles and essays. After his graduation from the Sofia University in 1981 he worked as a researcher until 1991. He is married to Zorka Parvanova, a researcher at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. They have two sons.

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