Pavel Chernev
Bulgarian politician and lawyer
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Pavel Mihaylov Chernev (Bulgarian: Павел Михайлов Чернев) (10 July 1969 – 19 March 2016) was a Bulgarian politician and lawyer. He was also one of the MPs who opposed the Independence of Kosovo.[1]
Biography
Born in Sofia, Chernev graduated from the juridical faculty of Sofia University and was a practicing attorney.[2] In his younger years, he focused on a number of sports such as wrestling and karate, which also taking up security-related jobs.[3] In the summer of 1990, Chernev was a participant in the student pro-democracy protests and occupations.
Chernev was formerly a member of the nationalist political party Ataka ("Attack") and was widely regarded as Volen Siderov's right-hand man.[4] During his time with Ataka, Chernev was among the members who played a role in steering the party away from radical nationalists and activists with admiration for Neo-Nazi ideas.[5] Chernev parted ways with the party in 2006 following the development of a conflict of interest with the party leader in the aftermath of his and Siderov's controversial involvement in a traffic dispute with another driver.[6]
He took part in the October 2007 Sofia municipal elections and finished in 10th place out of 41 candidates.[7]
In 2010, Chernev appeared in the Bulgarian comedy film Mission London together with Yulian Vergov, a childhood friend.[8] In his capacity as an actor, he is usually typecast in tough guy or villainous roles.[9]
In 2011, he was a candidate to become President of Bulgaria as a member of the Party for the People of the Nation (Bulgarian: Партия за Хората от Народа), receiving 0.24% of the votes cast.[10] He was also the leader of the Bulgarian section of Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), and held speeches at international counter-jihad conferences.[11]
In 2013, Chernev participated in the Bulgarian version of the reality TV show VIP Brother.[12]
Chernev is opposed to the membership of Bulgaria in the European Union and has called for the holding of a referendum on the matter.[13] His views have been characterized by political scientists such as Ognyan Minchev as uncompromisingly pro-Russian.[14]
During the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Chernev was one of the Orthodox Dawn (Bulgarian: Православна Зора, Pravoslavna Zora) members who helped recruit and organize a small number of Bulgarian volunteers who travelled to Crimea in order to support the Russian operations.[15] He also served as an election observer for the 2014 referendum in Crimea.[16]
In August 2014, Chernev was admitted as a member of the newly formed Patriotic Front, with his Freedom Party (Bulgarian: партия "Свобода", partiya "Svoboda") also becoming part of the electoral alliance.[14] However, the Freedom Party withdrew its support for the Patriotic Front in May 2015.[17]
On the 19 March 2016, Pavel died after a pulmonary embolism in Sofia, Bulgaria.[18]