Quick Facts
Biography
Nikolay Evtimov Mladenov (Bulgarian: Николай Евтимов Младенов; born 5 May 1972) is a Bulgarian politician and diplomat who served as the minister of foreign affairs in the government of then prime minister Boyko Borisov from 2010 to 2013. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009 and was Minister of Defense from 27 July 2009 to 27 January 2010. On 2 August 2013 Mladenov was appointed as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq. On 5 February 2015, Mladenov was appointed UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
Early life and education
Nikolay Mladenov was born on 5 May 1972 in Sofia. In 1995, he graduated from the University of National and World Economy, majoring in international relations. The following year he obtained a MA in war studies from King's College London.
Career
Between 1996 and 1998 he was program director of the Open Society Foundation in Sofia, followed by an appointment as a program coordinator in the social department of the World Bank for Bulgaria. In 1999 he founded the European Institute in Sofia and was its director until 2001. He was a member of parliament for the United Democratic Forces in the 39th National Assembly, parliamentary secretary (until March 2002), and vice chairman of the committee on European integration and the committee on foreign affairs, defense and security.
On 12 March 2002 was elected to the national executive council of the party Union of Democratic Forces. Later he was appointed spokesman of the party. From 22 February 2004 he was the vice-president of UDF, resigning on 16 August 2005.
From 2005 to 2007 he served as a consultant to the World Bank, International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute in Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries. In 2006 he worked as an adviser to parliamentary committees on defense and foreign policy and cooperation of the Iraqi Parliament.
He was number 3 on the candidate list of the GERB party for the European elections 2007. As a member of the European Parliament Mladenov was a member of the committees on internal market and consumer protection, foreign affairs, and the subcommittee on security and defence. He was also the first vice chairman of the EP delegation for relations with Iraq and member of the delegations to Israel and Afghanistan.
He is a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.
On 2 August 2013, Mladenov was appointed as United Nations Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He succeeds Martin Kobler of Germany.
Political career
Mladenov is considered by many to be a Western-oriented, bright politician. During his tenure as defense minister, he increased Bulgarian deployment to Afghanistan, and also improved United States-Bulgaria relations immensely. An excerpt from a US diplomatic cable recovered in the Cablegate scandal solidifies this:
On 2 August 2013 Nikolay Mladenov was appointed as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.
On 5 February 2015, Mr. Mladenov was appointed United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, replacing Dutch diplomat Robert Serry.