WHO IS WHO: Bulgaria's New Defense Minister Nikolay Mladenov

Nikolay Mladenov

BIOGRAPHY

Nikolay Mladenov was born 5 May 1972.
He graduated from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia with BA and MA degrees in International Relations. Later he obtained a MA in War Studies from King's College - London.

PUBLIC SERVICE RECORD

1996 -1998 - Program Director of Open Society Institute, Sofia.

1998 - Program Coordinator for the Social Department for Bulgaria at the World Bank.

1999-2001 - founder and director of the European Institute in Sofia

2001- Mach 2002 - Member of Parliament in the 39th National Assembly on the ticket of the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces, deputy head of the European Integration Commission, member of the Foreign Policy, Defense and Security commission.

March 2002 - elected member of the National Executive Council of the Union of Democratic Forces, subsequently its spokesman.

February 2004 - August 2005 - deputy chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces,

2005-2007 - consultant at the World Bank, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute in Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Yemen and other Middle East countries.

2006 - advisor to the defense and foreign policy commissions at the Iraq parliament.

2007 - 2009 - Member of the European Parliament for the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria GERB party.