Petar Tanev

EU Policy Officer, Brussels

Petar Tanev was born in Bulgaria and grew up in Russia, holding dual EU and Russian nationalities. His dedication to the cause was evident during his time in Russia, where he focused on educating the younger generations about the EU's political processes and values. This commitment continued after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as he undertook an internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and initiated an awareness campaign in Bulgaria to prevent Kremlin propaganda from influencing Bulgarian and EU society.

In November 2022, he started his work as a Parliamentary Assistant in the European Parliament office of the Head of the Bulgarian delegation in the EPP Group, MEP Andrey Kovatchev. His main responsibilities included providing expertise for reports, developing amendments and initiatives within the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) and the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in the European Union (ING2) on all topics related to the Putin aggression against Ukraine and malicious Kremlin influence in the political processes of the EU and Western Balkans. In addition to his work in the European Parliament, Petar undertook an internship in the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies - the European Peoples` Party Think Tank.

Currently, Petar is the EU affairs advisor and Free Russia Foundation`s Policy Officer for relations with EU institutions.

His areas of expertise are the EU Common Foreign & Security Policy towards countries of Russia, Ukraine & Belarus, Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans; the role of EU countries in Transatlantic defence cooperation (NATO); and Kremlin interference in all democratic processes of the EU.

In addition to his native Bulgarian and Russian, Petar is fluent in English, has good knowledge of Serbian & Croatian languages, and is learning Ukrainian.