Tatyana Doncheva

Receiving an education in the field of legal studies (graduating from the juridical faculty of Sofia University), Doncheva has worked as a jurist, lawyer and prosecutor in Sofia. She is also a member of the Arbitration Commission of the Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation.[2] In 2005, she was a candidate (backed by BSP and a number of other parties) to become mayor of the capital city, losing out to Boyko Borisov in the second decisive electoral round of the municipal elections.[3] After being unable to stake a strong enough claim for the leadership position of BSP at the party congress in October 2009, Doncheva founded the PP "Movement 21" in April 2010, which does not constitute a political party, but represents the activism of citizens. Tatyana Doncheva ran in the 2016 Bulgarian Presidential Elections.[4]

She speaks English and Russian in addition to her native Bulgarian.[5]

Tatyana Doncheva is a vocal opponent against corruption and argues in favor of reforms in Bulgaria's justice system. Recently, she raised concern about the anti-constitutional amendments to Bulgaria's Code of Criminal Procedure which were passed by the Bulgarian Parliament in August 2017.[6] Doncheva was worried that the new changes create more possibilities for repression: for instance, one of the new provisions permits an investigation to be kept open indefinitely.[7]

Previously, she had argued that Bulgaria's Prosecution acts like "a shah from the Middle Ages."[8] She also warned that Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov abuses his office and attacks businessmen for personal reasons.[9] In the summer of 2017, Doncheva suspected that Tsatsarov was working towards extending his already excessive powers through negotiations behind the curtain.[10] Sotir Tsatsarov has recently been nominated for sanctions under the US Magnitsky Act.[11]