Nadezhda Neynsky, previously known as Nadezhda Nikolova Mihaylova () (born 9 August 1962 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian politician. She has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997–2001), head of Union of Democratic Forces (March 2002 – October 2005), and Member of the Bulgarian Parliament (37th, 38th, 39th, and 40th National Assembly of Bulgaria). Since 2009, she is a Member of the European Parliament.
Early life and education
In 1977, Mihaylova completed her primary education at the 127th "Ivan Denkoglu" school in Sofia and in 1981 graduated from the Lycée Français de Sofia. Mihaylova subsequently enrolled as a student of philology at Sofia University, completing her studies in 1985. Between 1986 and 1988, she worked as a freelance journalist. In that period Mihaylova became a member of the Union of Translators in Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Съюз на преводачите в България).
Career
Member of the Bulgarian National Assembly and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria
Nadezhda Mihaylova was a member of the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) until she left in November 2012 after 21 years of membership in the party.
She was elected to sit the 37th National Assembly (1995–1997). During this time she sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee and was member of the Bulgarian delegation to the Council of Europe. She was also chairman of the Committee for Parliamentary and Public Relations Assembly (1994–1997) and the vice-president of the Union of Democratic Forces.
She was reelected in 1997 and sat in the 38th National Assembly (1997–2001). She was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ivan Kostov's government and held that post for four years. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, she strongly supported a policy of NATO integration and EU membership of her country.
In February 1999, she was chosen as the deputy chairman of the European People's Party at the 13th Congress in Brussels, becoming the first person from Eastern Europe to hold this position.
In March 2000, as the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Mihaylova denied having delivered a document showing an alleged plan of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic aimed at ethnic cleansing of Kosovo (Operation Horseshoe) to the then foreign minister of Germany, Joschka Fischer, in April 1999. In 2012, however, Mihaylova finally admitted to private Bulgarian channel BTV that she had handed the document regarding the Operation Horseshoe to the German foreign minister. During the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in April 1999, British Prime Minister Tony Blair travelled to Sofia praising Nadezhda Mihaylova commitment with the words: "You, Nadezhda, have become the symbol of the wider Europe – of a whole Europe – a Europe of solidarity."
As an MP in the 39th National Assembly (2001–2005), she was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Committee on National Security and Defence.
She was elected chairman of the United Democratic Forces in 2002. Mihaylova's tenure as UDF leader saw an unprecedented attrition of public support for her party which diminished UDF's political position to not much more than a marginal political player. Many blamed Mihaylova's leadership style for the downfall of her party. One of her most outspoken critics was Edvin Sugarev who in April 2003 accused the UDF leadership of lack of political strategy and political impotence. In protest, Sugarev resigned from his position in the party's National Executive Council.
In the 2003 local elections Mihaylova ran for the Mayor of Sofia. Mihaylova made a pledge to resign as the UDF chairwoman in case she loses the mayoral election. She lost, but reneged on her pledge and stayed on as the UDF leader.
After the disappointing local elections of 2003, a rift broke between her and the former PM Ivan Kostov in the party. In 2004, 29 UDF delegates (led by Kostov) left to form a new party, Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria. After the disappointing 2005 parliamentary election, with her party finishing fifth, she was succeeded by former president Petar Stoyanov as the chairman of the party. On 30 November 2005, Mihaylova established the "Right Alternative" (Bulgarian: Дясна алтернатива) faction within the party.
She served on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Committee on European Integration as a member of the 40th National Assembly. (2005–2009). From 2008 to 2009, Nadezhda served as the vice-president of the Bulgarian National Assembly.
In November 2012, she quit the right-wing party after three senior MPs were expelled.
