Angel Chavdarov Dzhambazki (family name sometimes also
transliterated as Djambazki) (
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
: Ангел Чавдаров Джамбазки) (born 21 March 1979, in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
) is a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
politician and currently a member of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
. He is also the vice-chairman of the
IMRO
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
, having joined the
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
party in 1997 and gradually progressed through its ranks.
Dzhambazki is a graduate of
Sofia University, where he specialized in
international studies.
Politics
Member of the Sofia City Council
Dzhambazki was a member of the
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
city council between 2007 and 2014 after first being elected on the ticket of
GERB, though making use of the quota for citizens, and then securing a seat in October 2011 as a candidate of
IMRO
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
.
In November 2013, the
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee is an independent non-governmental organization for human rights founded on July 14, 1992 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Its main objectives are protection and promotion of human rights in Bulgaria. With more than 30 associat ...
notified Bulgaria's then-Chief Prosecutor
Sotir Tsatsarov
Sotir Stefanov Tsatsarov ( bg, Сотир Стефанов Цацаров) (born 28 September 1966) is a Bulgarian jurist who served as the chief prosecutor of Bulgaria from December 2012 until December 2019. Tsatsarov allegedly owes his appointme ...
in relation to comments made by Dzhambazki, other IMRO members and football fans during an anti-immigrant procession in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
. Dzhambazki has criticized the non-governmental organization for being what it described as an "instrument for the destruction of the nation".
Three years later, Dzhambazki and his party filed a motion before Tsatsarov, which sought to have the activities of the Helsinki Committee banned in Bulgaria, alleging that they had been "pressuring" and "influencing" judges through the use of seminars, which they claim led to the granting of the parole request of
Jock Palfreeman. The NGO rejected the allegations, dubbing them a "part of the IMRO's election campaign".
Member of the European Parliament
In May 2014, Dzhambazki was elected to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
as a member of the
Bulgaria Without Censorship
Reload Bulgaria ( bg, Презареди България, Prezaredi Balgariya; formerly Bulgaria Uncensored, bg, България без цензура) is a populist political party in Bulgaria.
History
The party was created by former TV host ...
- IMRO electoral coalition. In 2016 and 2017, Dzhambazki has been accused of racist, xenophobic and homophobic comments.
He was
reelected to the European Parliament on his party's own list in the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
.
Candidate for Mayor of Sofia
In September 2019, he announced his candidacy for Mayor of
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
, Bulgaria's capital and largest city, during Bulgaria's
2019 local elections. He focused his campaign on dismantling
ghettos inhabited primarily by Bulgaria's
Romani minority, as well as banning the annual
Sofia Pride
Sofia Pride Parade is a peaceful march of LGBT people and their relatives and friends, which combines social and political protest with entertainment such as live concerts. It takes place every year in the month of June in Bulgaria's capital Sofia ...
gay parade as part of what he described as a '
law and order' campaign. He came under criticism from his former coalition partner
Volen Siderov, as he refused to resign his seat on the European Parliament as he stood for election as Mayor of Sofia. He came in fifth with 3.90% of the vote.
Political views and statements
Since the start of his political career, Dzhambazki has opposed the role of the
Movement for Rights and Freedoms in Bulgarian politics, declaring the party as "toxic" and a "criminal organization".
In April 2019, Dzhambazki celebrated the cancellation of Bulgaria's "National Strategy for Children (2019-2030)", which he stated was "scandalous" and would "legalize controversial practices in childrearing, debate the role of the family and parents and lead to a conclusion that would lead the country along the perverted lines of countries such as Norway or the Netherlands". He declared that the cancellation of the strategy was a victory for himself and his party, which he opined would continue to "fight to defend tradition, the family and Christian values" and against "multiculturalism and eurobureaocratism".
Dzhambazki condemned a statement to the
UN general assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
by Bulgarian Foreign Minister
Ekaterina Zaharieva
Ekaterina Spasova Gecheva-Zaharieva ( bg, Екатерина Спасова Гечева-Захариева; born 8 August 1975) is a Bulgarian politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria 2017 to 2021. She was interim Deputy Prime M ...
regarding child rights on 27 September 2019, stating that he found it "unacceptable" for the interests of the child to be viewed as "isolated" from its parents or to come into conflict with the parent's interests. He also stated that he found it "unacceptable" for biological parents to have the same status as
legal guardians
A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, calle ...
and social services put in care of children.
On 26 November 2019, he condemned the
Istanbul Convention against domestic violence, which he stated would not prevent violence against women, but instead "destroy the Christian family and traditional values, consisting of a man, woman and their children", adding that "everything else is a perversion and gender propaganda".
On 27 November 2019, he delivered a speech to the European Parliament, in which he accused the plenary session of being "devoted to
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
propaganda" and stated that he rejected "homosexual propaganda, as well as actions close to paedophillia". He further accused the EU Parliament of
Bolshevism, stating to the assembly that the parliament had acted like "Chinese communist-bolsheviks", which led to him being booed by MEPs.
Dzhambazki took a vocally strong stance against the 2019 proposed changes to the EU
transport law
Transport law (or transportation law) is the area of law dealing with transport. The laws can apply very broadly at a transport system level or more narrowly to transport things or activities within that system such as vehicles, things and behavi ...
proposed by French President
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
. Dzhambazki stated that the reform plan had been pushed alongside an "organized campaign against Bulgarian national interests", as the reforms were deemed to hurt Bulgarian transport companies. On 17 December 2019, a statement he published online against the proposed reform package was put under investigation for racism by the European Parliament, after he dubbed transport committee chairwoman
Karima Delli
Karima Delli (born 4 March 1979 in Roubaix, Nord) is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament elected in the 2009 European election, 2014 European elections and in the 2019 European elections for the Île-de-France constituen ...
a "French woman from Algerian descent" and another one of the bill's authors,
Ismail Ertug
Ismail Ertug (Turkish: İsmail Ertuğ; born 5 December 1975) is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Party of European Socialists.
Ea ...
, as a "German man from Turkish descent". Following condemnation from several MEPs, Dzhambazki stated that he would apologise if the two felt offended, adding that he himself would not be offended if someone were to dub him a "Bulgarian from Macedonian descent".
In April 2020, Dzhambazki stated that the Bulgarian population needed to be protected from the
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
people, which amount to about 5% of the population, while some argue numbers could be twice the size.
Dzhambazki has repeatedly stated that "Macedonia is Bulgarian."
He has also stated that Macedonians and Bulgarians are one nation.
Dzhambazki has disputed the
2021 North Macedonia census The 2021 North Macedonia census, officially known as the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings, 2021, was the third census held in North Macedonia since independence, and the first since 2002. The census recorded a resident population of 1, ...
, in regards to the number of enumerated Bulgarians.
Controversies
On 16 February 2022, after defending the governments of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in a speech at the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
, Dzhambazki insulted his fellow MEP
Sandro Gozi
Sandro Gozi () (born 25 March 1968 in Sogliano al Rubicone) is an Italian politician formerly of the Democratic Party who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2020. He was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2006 to 2018 ...
(
Renew Europe
Renew Europe (Renew) is a liberal, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group which exist ...
) and apparently made a
Nazi salute while leaving the chamber. Dzhambazki's actions were immediately censored by the Vice-President of the European Parliament
Giuseppina Picierno, who was presiding over the session.
Roberta Metsola
Roberta Metsola (; née Tedesco Triccas; born 18 January 1979) is a Maltese politician serving as President of the European Parliament since January 2022.
Metsola was first elected to as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2013, and bec ...
, President of the European Parliament, stated that Dzhambazki could be sanctioned under Rule 10 of the European Parliament’s rules of procedure which deals with the conduct of members of the European parliament. Dzhambazki said his hand sign was a goodbye signal to his political career.
Personal life
In addition to his native
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
, Dzhambazki also speaks
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and
Russian.
Among his hobbies is
mountaineering
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
.
He has stated that before entering politics, he sold newspapers and pizza.
On 19 November 2018, Dzhambazki was detained at
Sofia Airport after an attempt to bring a
Makarov pistol
The Makarov pistol or PM ( rus, Пистоле́т Мака́рова, r=Pistolét Makárova, p=pʲɪstɐˈlʲet mɐˈkarəvə, t=Makarov's Pistol) is a Soviet semi-automatic pistol. Under the project leadership of Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov, it ...
onto a flight. The weapon was legally owned and Dzhambazki stated that he had forgotten to remove it from his luggage prior to boarding. It was kept in storage by airport authorities for a few days, following which it was returned to Dzhambazki.
In a 2019 interview, Dzhambazki announced that he had fathered a daughter, who he named Bilyana after a protagonist in a song, but did not mention who the child's mother was and stated that he did not wish to discuss his personal life further.
On 6 December 2019, he was caught
driving under the influence
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
(DUI) of alcohol at night by a Bulgarian police patrol. The
breathalyzer
A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser'') is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC), or to detect viruses or diseases from a breath sample.
The name is a genericized trademark of the Br ...
test administered to him initially showed a result of a
BAC
BAC or Bac may refer to:
Places
* Bac, a village in Montenegro
* Baile Átha Cliath, Irish language name for Dublin city.
* Bîc River, aka ''Bâc River'', a Moldovan river
* Baç Bridge, bridge in Turkey
* Barnes County Municipal Airport (ICAO a ...
by volume of 1,5
per mille
Per mille (from Latin , "in each thousand") is an expression that means parts per thousand. Other recognised spellings include per mil, per mill, permil, permill, or permille.
The associated sign is written , which looks like a percent sig ...
, punishable under Bulgarian law by 1 to 3 years imprisonment, though he was not charged due to his legal immunity as an
MEP MEP may refer to:
Organisations and politics
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka
* Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...
. А blood test given by Dzhambazki later verified that he had consumed alcohol, but showed a lowered BAC figure to under 1,2 per mille - punishable under Bulgarian law with an administrative penalty. Dzhambazki confessed that he had been drinking and driving that night, stating that he regretted and was embarrassed by what he dubbed his own "absolutely bad judgement, irrational and irresponsible behaviour". He pledged that in the future he would quit either drinking or driving.
On 7 January 2020, MEP and
Reload Bulgaria leader
Nikolay Barekov
Nikolay Tihomirov Barekov ( bg, Николай Тихомиров Бареков; born 16 October 1972) is a Bulgarian journalist, politician, and businessman. Since January 2014 he has been the leader of the political party Bulgaria Without Cen ...
accused Dzhambazki of abusing his influence and forensic manipulation in regards to his DUI, submitting the case before Bulgaria's newly-appointed Chief Prosecutor
Ivan Geshev
Ivan Stoimenov Geshev ( bg, Иван Стоименов Гешев) is a Bulgarian jurist serving as Bulgaria's Chief Public Prosecutor since 26 November 2019. Geshev previously served as Head of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office (July 2016-Jul ...
. The allegation was that Dzhambazki did not give a blood test to the hospital which he was ordered to visit, but instead to the
Military Medical Academy, an institution subordinate to Bulgarian Minister of Defence and fellow IMRO party leader
Krasimir Karakachanov
Krasimir Donchev Karakachanov ( bg, Красимир Дончев Каракачанов ; born 29 March 1965) is a Bulgarian politician. He has been the leader of the IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement since 1991.
Biography
Karakachanov says ...
.
During
the COVID-19 pandemic Dzhambazki has volunteered at the COVID ward in the Military Medical Academy.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzhambazki, Angel
1979 births
Living people
Bulgarian nationalists
Bulgarian conservatives
Politicians from Sofia
Sofia University alumni
MEPs for Bulgaria 2014–2019
MEPs for Bulgaria 2019–2024