Alexander Paunov

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Alexander Dimitrov Paunov (Bulgarian: Александър Димитров Паунов) (born June 19, 1949), is a Bulgarian politician, member of the Bulgarian National Assembly, and the leader of the current Communist Party of Bulgaria.

He was born in the southern city of Pazardzhik and became an economist. After the collapse of the Socialist Bloc in 1989, the Bulgarian Communist Party was renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party and shed its Marxist-Leninist ideology. Several factions broke off from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, one of them being named the Communist Party of Bulgaria, which is currently led by Paunov. It is a member of the Socialist-led Coalition for Bulgaria.

Paunov is one of the only members of the Bulgarian National Assembly who voted against Bulgaria's entrance into NATO and the European Union. He also demanded the withdrawal of Bulgarian troops formerly stationed in Karbala, Iraq.