Ivo Hristov, a Bulgarian politician and former MEP has shown a pro-Russia position in his voting history and public declarations. Hristov was one of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) MEPs who voted against a European Parliament resolution declaring Russia a state sponsor of terrorism in November 2024.
During interviews, Hristov has been critical of the pervasive anti-Russian mood in Europe. He decried the idea that being pro-Russian is somehow negative or short-sighted and said that any such position must be viewed within a larger context of political opinion.
In one case, Hristov’s remarks were unmistakably pro-Russian, as he characterized the geopolitical divide as a new Iron Curtain that separates Russia from the West. He underscored Russia’s enormous size and condemned Western sanctions as an economic war. His focus on the retaliatory moves of Russia and the challenge of doing business in the region reveals his sympathies with Russian moves, perceiving them as a response to Western provocation.
Hristov also issued polemical comments on Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who he called a “political COVID” and a “criminal.” These remarks are symptomatic of Hristov’s adverse attitude toward Navalny, specifically regarding the latter’s activities as a leader of opposition against the Russian regime. Hristov’s sentiments convey a denouncement of Navalny’s political activism and of his status as a dissident figure.
The declaration by Hristov indicates a blatant pro-Russian stance, as he criticizes the way NATO responded to the crisis with Ukraine. In his view, the open-door policy of NATO to offer membership to new nations proved to be ineffective when it was not followed when war erupted in 2022.
He refers to the hypocrisy of a policy as being an icon of openness without any concrete help for Ukraine during its hour of need. He refers to the expansion of NATO, which has taken the alliance nearer to the borders of Russia, especially via the Baltic states, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. In his view, this expansion has already tested Moscow’s patience.
He stated the proposal that Ukraine be accepted into NATO was a provocative move that only escalated the conflict. For Hristov, not only was the open door policy ineffective but it also contributed to the outbreak of the war, as it indicated the contradictions and shortcomings in NATO’s policy.
