Iskra Dimitrova Mihaylova-Koparova (; born 7 September 1957) is a Bulgarian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Bulgaria who has been a Member of the European Parliament since July 2014. She is a member of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.
Early life and education Mihaylova earned a master's degree in Library Studies and Information Technologies from the Saint-Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts in 1980. She trained as a librarian and bibliographer at the State Library Institute of Bulgaria and then at the Leningrad Institute of Culture.
Career Mihaylova worked for the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library from 1980 to 1996. In 1996, Mihaylova was an American Library Association Fellow working at the Colorado State Library.Bolt, Nancy. "A Bulgarian and Colorado Library Project." International Leads, vol. 16, no. 2, June 2002, pp. 1-8.Bolt, Nancy. "John Ames Humphrey Award--OCLC Forest Press Award: "Sure, Why Not?." International Leads, vol. 30, no. 3, Sept. 2016, p. 6.
Political career In parliament, Mihaylova has been serving as chair of the Committee on Regional Development.
In addition to her committee assignments, Mihaylova is part of the parliament's delegations to the EU-Armenia and EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee, to the EU-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee and to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).Intergroup on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) European Parliament.
In June 2019, Mihaylova was elected vice-president of the political group Renew Europe.
Recognition Mihaylova was the winner of the Regional Development Award at the 2017 MEP Awards.
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