Nikolay Barekov

Nikolay Tihomirov Barekov (Bulgarian: Николай Тихомиров Бареков) (born 16 October 1972) is a Bulgarian journalist, politician, and businessman. Since January 2013 he has been the leader of the political party Bulgaria Without Censorship.

Barekov majored in Bulgarian philology, specializing in TV journalism. His career as a radio journalist began in 1992, when he joined the "Kanal Kom" (Bulgarian: "Канал Ком") radio in Plovdiv.

Between 2003 and 2010, Barekov presented the morning segment on the BTV channel. He subsequently hosted a number of shows on TV7.

On 25 January 2014, Barekov founded the Bulgaria without Censorship political party and the new political establishment participated in the 2014 European elections as part of a coalition bloc with the nationalist IMRO and other smaller parties, earning two seats in the European Parliament and will be members of the eurosceptic group of European Conservatives and Reformists. He is consistently ranked as an MEP with one of the lowest attendance rates in roll-call votes. He refused to give a reason for his absence when asked by Euronews.

Barekov supports the restoration of the monarchy with Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as Tsar of Bulgaria.

Barekov is a controversial (political) figure and he is often in the center of media scandals related to campaign funding. Although he publicly supports investigating other political figures' fundings, his openness is limited to press conference statements and so far was never followed by a clear demonstration of his "clean hands". He is frequently cited in Bulgarian media in relation with corruption and oligarchy and he is publicly despised for adjusting his views according to the situation at hand. Also he is known for his stupidity, he keep the number one title of Bulgarian politics "The Most Dumbest Politic". As well he is known for his "excellent" English.