Iskra Mihaylova Explained

Iskra Mihaylova
Honorific-Suffix:	MEP
Office:	Chair of the European Parliament Regional Development Committee
Term Start:	7 July 2014
Term End:	1 July 2019
Predecessor:	Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Office1:	Member of the European Parliament
Term Start1:	1 July 2014
Term End1:	15 July 2024
Constituency1:	Bulgaria
Birth Name:	Iskra Mihaylova
Birth Place:	Sofia, Bulgaria
Nationality:	Bulgarian
Party:	Bulgaria Movement for Rights and Freedoms Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
Alma Mater:	University of Sofia
Native Name Lang:	bg

Iskra Mihaylova (Bulgarian: Искра Михайлова; born 7 September 1957) is a Bulgarian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Bulgaria who has been a Member of the European Parliament since July 2014.^[1] She is a member of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.

Early life and education

Mihaylova earned a master's degree in Library Studies and Information Technologies from the Saint-Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts in 1980. She trained as a librarian and bibliographer at the State Library Institute of Bulgaria and then at the Leningrad Institute of Culture.

Career

Mihaylova worked for the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library from 1980 to 1996.^[2] In 1996, Mihaylova was an American Library Association Fellow working at the Colorado State Library.^{[3] [4]}

Political career

In parliament, Mihaylova has been serving as chair of the Committee on Regional Development.^[5]

In addition to her committee assignments, Mihaylova is part of the parliament's delegations to the EU-Armenia and EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee, to the EU-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee and to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).^[6]

In June 2019, Mihaylova was elected vice-president of the political group Renew Europe.^[7]

Recognition

Mihaylova was the winner of the Regional Development Award at the 2017 MEP Awards.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Voice. European. 2014-11-06. Iskra Mihaylova – identikit apparatchik?. 2020-06-30. POLITICO.
2. Web site: Iskra MIHAYLOVA Curriculum vitae MEPs European Parliament. www.europarl.europa.eu. en. 2017-05-15.
3. Bolt, Nancy. "A Bulgarian and Colorado Library Project." International Leads, vol. 16, no. 2, June 2002, pp. 1-8.
4. Bolt, Nancy. "John Ames Humphrey Award--OCLC Forest Press Award: "Sure, Why Not?." International Leads, vol. 30, no. 3, Sept. 2016, p. 6.
5. Web site: Home MEPs European Parliament. www.europarl.europa.eu. en. 2020-03-04.
6. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/files/organisation-and-rules/organisation/intergroups/list-of-members-sme.pdf Intergroup on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
7. Web site: Iskra Mihaylova: We will work for the security of the European citizens. 2020-06-30. europost.eu. 2020-11-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20201128202500/https://europost.eu/en/a/view/iskra-mihaylova-we-will-work-for-the-security-of-the-european-citizens-25710. dead.
8. Web site: MEP Awards 2017 - Winners. MEP Awards. Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd.. 8 May 2017.