Stefan Tafrov is a Bulgarian diplomat, politician, journalist, translator, literary critic and social activist born in Sofia on 11 February 1958.
In the 80s, he was active in civil groups opposing the communist regime in defense of human rights. As such, he was a cofounder of the Union of Democratic Forces in December 1989 and headed its External Department. Ambassador Tafrov was the first foreign policy advisor to the first democratically elected Bulgarian president, Zhelyu Zhelev, and served twice as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Governments of the Union of Democratic Forces headed by Prime Ministers Philip Dimitrov and Ivan Kostov.
As foreign policy advisor to President Zhelev, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Mr. Tafrov was instrumental in the establishment of the bilateral relations between our two countries, effectively countersigning the Decision of the Government of Prime Minister Dimitrov to recognize Republic of Macedonia as an independent state.
As a diplomat, Mr. Tafrov served as Bulgarian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Bulgarian to Italy and Malta, to the United Kingdom and Ireland, to France and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as well as twice as Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the United Nations (UN) in New York in 2002-2007 and 2012-2016. During his first term as Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Tafrov represented Bulgaria on the Security Council in 2002-2003. In September 2002 and December 2003, as part of the standard rotation of the Council’s Presidency, Ambassador Tafrov served as Chairperson of the UN Security Council, as well as of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.
For his work, Mr. Tafrov has been decorated as Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur of France, and as an Officer of the Order of the Stella d’Italia.
Mr. Tafrov is fluent in French, English, Italian, Polish, and Russian. He was elected to the Executive Board of the PRESPA Institute for the term 2026-2029.