site.btaSix Candidates Nominated for Ombudsman of Bulgaria

The six candidates for the position of Ombudsman of Bulgaria have been published on the National Assembly’s website on Friday. They are Anton Stankov, Mariya Mateva, Dzhema Grozdanova, Dimitar Margaritov, Maya Manolova, and Velislava Delcheva.

The procedure for electing a new Ombudsman was initiated with the adoption of rules by Parliament on February 13, 2024. The deadline for nominations was 28 days. Nominations could be made by members of Parliament (MP), parliamentary groups, and non-government organizations working for the public good.

Anton Stankov has been nominated by the Bulgarian School of Politics Dimitry Panitza. He is a former justice minister in Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's cabinet between July 2001 and August 2005.

Mariya Mateva has been nominated by the Bulgarian Red Cross. She is a second-term member and Vice-Chair of the Commission for Personal Data Protection, elected from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms quota.

Dzhema Grozdanova has been nominated by the National Patients’ Organization. She is a doctor and served as a MP from GERB from 2009 to 2020. Later, she became the Vice-Chairperson of the Republicans for Bulgaria party.

Dimitar Margaritov has been nominated by the Active Consumers Association. He was the Chairman of the Commission for Consumer Protection from 2015 to 2022 and briefly served as Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry.

Maya Manolova has been proposed by 23 civil organizations. She is a former MP and served as the national Ombudsman from 2015 to 2019.

Velislava Delcheva has been nominated by GERB-UDF MPs Rositsa Kirova and Anna Aleksandrova. Currently, Delcheva works as an expert at the Ministry of Justice. From 2022 to early 2025, she was the coordinator for Bulgaria in the USAID programme for the Rule of Law in Central Europe.

The Ombudsman is elected by the National Assembly in a public and transparent process for a five-year term and can be re-elected for only one additional term, according to the Ombudsman Act.

On April 10, 2024, the powers of the former Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva were terminated following her resignation after being elected as a judge in the European Court of Human Rights.