H.E. Nickolay Mladenov

Nickolay Evtimov Mladenov is a former Member of the European Parliament (2007-2009), former Minister of Defence and current Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister BoykoBorisov of Bulgaria. Between 1996 and 1998 he was Programme Director of the Open Society Foundation in Sofia, followed by an appointment as a programme 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. From 2005 to 2007 he served as a consultant to the World Bank. In 2006 he was an adviser to parliamentary committees on defense and foreign policy and cooperation of the Iraqi Parliament. 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.