Education

Master's degree, International Political Economy (Russia and Eastern Europe), King’s College London

Bachelor’s degree, European Studies, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

Biography

Svetoslav Malinov is a member of the Democracy Shield Task Force and an analyst in the Sociological Program at the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD). His work focuses on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), disinformation, malign foreign influence, media and state capture, and strategic corruption, with an emphasis on how social divisions, declining trust in institutions, and digital platform dynamics are exploited to undermine democratic resilience.

He is currently pursuing a PhD at Sofia University on pro-Russian disinformation in Bulgaria and the Western Balkans, developing analytical models and methodologies based on cleavage theories.

Prior to joining CSD, he worked as a Political Assistant at the British Embassy in Sofia. He has also interned at the European Parliament and Transparency International Bulgaria, and was part of the OSCE Media Monitoring Team for the July 2021 parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. His academic background includes an MA dissertation offering a critical analysis of Neo-Gramscian perspectives on the European Union.