Institute for Regional and International Studies

Current Staff

Alexander Neofitov

Position: Research Fellow

Alexander joined the team as part of the OSI Think Thank Young Professional Development Program. He has a long-standing experience in project coordination at various non-governmental organizations with both national and international scope. His research interests lie in areas such as democratic consolidation and development in Central and Eastern Europe, illiberal politics and populism, as well as the dynamics of domestic policy change and decision-making patterns in new EU member states.
Alexander holds a joint International Master’s degree in Economy, Stata and Society (IMESS) from University College London and Charles University in Prague and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Sofia University.

The Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS) is an independent, non-government think tank. IRIS was established on June 11, 1997 by leading Bulgarian public and political figures, NGO leaders and prominent Bulgarian scholars in international relations, Balkan studies, history, social and political science, anthropology and economics.

The Institute for Regional and International Studies initiates, develops and implements civic strategies for democratic politics on national, regional and international level. The Institute promotes the values of democracy, civil society, freedom and respect of law, assists the process of Bulgarian integration in NATO and the EU and provides public policy analyses on current domestic and international issues. IRIS represents a strategic combination of advocacy-oriented and education-oriented think tank.