Vladimir Shopov is a consultant, researcher and columnist with over 15 years of experience. He is currently a visiting policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate in political science and comparative politics with MA degrees from Sofia University ‘St. Kliment of Ohrid’ and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has also studied at Oxford University, London University (Queen Mary College), New School for Social Research (New York City, USA), California State University at Sonoma, California, USA and Peking University, China. Executive courses at the Kennedy School, Harvard University and the European University Institute, Florence, Italy. 

Adjunct Professor at Sofia University ‘St. Kliment of Ohrid’ and the Diplomatic Institute, Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as guest – lecturer in various European and Asian universities and policy institutes. He has been Adviser on EU Affairs to the Minister of Home Affairs (1997 – 1998), Counsellor at the Bulgarian Mission to the EU in Brussels (1998 – 2001), EU Adviser at the British Embassy in Sofia (2002 – 2003) and Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (2014 – 2017). University lecturer in politics at Sofia University (2004 – 2006) and Research Manager and Senior Analyst at Alpha Research Ltd. (2006 – 2008). 

He has worked with the European Parliament, MEPs, the European Commission, the British Council and many other European and Asian policy and research centers. Political consultancy for numerous Bulgarian political parties and consultancy for companies from the UK, Spain, USA, Sweden, Germany, Austria and others. Foreign Affairs Columnist at Forbes Bulgaria (2011 – 2020) and co-founder of Reduta.bg – a site for analytical journalism (2011 – 2021). Currently, Mr. Shopov is a foreign policy columnist at the ‘Free Europe’ media platform and has a column on Asian affairs in ‘Manager’ Magazine. Author of „The British Attempt at Modelling the EU (1997-2007): Ideas, Discourse and Interests in International Affairs “published in 2020.