Kostadin Kostadinov (politician)

Kostadin Todorov Kostadinov (Костадин Тодоров Костадинов; born 1 April 1979) is a far-right and ultranationalist Bulgarian politician. He is the chairman of the ultranationalist Revival party (Възраждане, Vazrazhdane).

Kostadinov is known for his populism, anti-EU and anti-NATO stances, anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiment, as well as for his anti-migrant and аnti-Macedonian views.

Kostadinov has also espoused strong anti-Romani views, describing Roma people as "parasites" and "non-human vermin that has no place in Bulgaria".

In June 2023, a group of Revival supporters, led by the party's deputy Emil Yankov, attacked a Cinema that screened an LGBT film.

Biography
He was born on 1 April 1979 in Asparuhovo, PR Bulgaria.

He completed his master's degree in Balkan studies in 2002 and his master's in Law in 2011 at Veliko Tarnovo University. In 2017 Kostadinov completed his Ph.D. in Ethnography and Folklore in the Ethnographic Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 2004 he filmed a documentary on Bulgarians in Albania, and in 2005 published the film 'We are One Nation' – directed to the Bulgarians in Aegean Macedonia. He is also the author of the film 'Forgotten Land', devoted to the Bulgarians in North Dobrudja, filmed in 2009.

In 2016, disappointed by what he perceived as falsifications and forgeries of Bulgarian history in contemporary Bulgarian textbooks – he wrote a history textbook (Учебник по Родинознание) aimed at children from grades 1st through 4th.

In 2017, he released his next book, 'Guide to the Ancient Bulgarian Lands' in which over 100 revered places of Bulgarian history are named and detailed.

In 2018 Kostadinov divorced his wife Velina, they have two children, Todor and Denitsa. They had been married since 2003.

Political career
In 2014, Kostadinov founded the Revival party.

VMRO
In 1997, Kostadinov became a member of VMRO (ВМРО) and its coordinator for Northeast Bulgaria (2002–2009). He was regional coordinator for the provinces of Varna, Shumen, and Dobrich from 2002 to 2009, and from 2007 through 2012 he was a member of the National Executive Committee of the party. In 2013, he left VMRO because of the re-election of its leader, Krasimir Karakachanov, and in the same year ran as a member of the also nationalistic NFSB party.

Revival party
He participated in the founding of the far-right Revival in Bulgaria in June 2014. The constituent assembly took place in Pliska.

On 3 November 2019, Kostadinov and Revival went on a run-off vote for the mayor position in Varna (the 3rd largest city in Bulgaria) and accumulated 14.3% in the first round of voting and 35.99% in the runoffs.

Revival gathered 2.45% support at the April 2021 parliamentary election, remaining below the 4.0% needed for entry into the parliament. In the July 2021 parliamentary election it gathered 2.97%. In the November 2021 general election Revival gathered 4.86% and entered the parliament gaining 13 seats. In the October 2022 parliamentary election – 4th place, 9.83% and 27 seats. In the April 2023 parliamentary election – 3rd place, 13.58% and 37 seats.

Controversy
Kostadinov has also expressed anti-Roma views, describing Roma people as "parasites" and "non-human vermin that has no place in Bulgaria".

In the summer of 2020, the Court in Sofia launched a procedure for the removal of "Revival" as a political party, on the grounds that it had been fraudulently established through gathering falsified signatures. However, in May 2021, the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled in favor of Kostadinov's party, establishing that there had been no irregularities. In September 2020, Kostadinov was detained by the police during the protests opposing chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev and Borisov's administration. His party has also been noted for its opposition to many of the pandemic control measures, the promotion of conspiracy theories and having strong reservations regarding the COVID-19 vaccines. In March 2022, it was revealed that Kostadinov had received a 10-year ban from entering Ukraine, which has been attributed to the staunchly pro-Russian orientation of his party in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His pro-Russian stance and activities had gained him the nickname 'Kopeikin', referring to his alleged ties and alleged financial support from the Russian government.

15 June attacks
On 15 June 2023 a group of "Vazrazhdane" (Revival) supporters, led by the party's deputy Emil Yankov, attacked a cinema that screened an LGBTQIA+ movie, namely the 2022 movie Close, who won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival. It also won the André Cavens Award for Best Film by the Belgian Film Critics Association and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.

The attackers insulted those present at the screening in Plovdiv among whom was a pregnant woman. They also assaulted on random passers-by to the bar next to the cinema, attacked a bar employee who just wanted to pass - claimed she was a "gender" and gave her advice on how to "heal from it". Then, led by the deputy Emil Yankov, they tried to storm the lobby of the cultural institution. They admitted that none of them had seen the film and had created impressions from retellings on social networking services. Some of Kostadinov's sympathizers were also with St. George ribbons, traditionally worn by supporters of the USSR and Russophiles.