Nickolay Mladenov

Nikolay Evtimov Mladenov (Николай Евтимов Младенов; born 5 May 1972) is a Bulgarian politician and diplomat exposed in the Pandora Papers scandal, who served as Bulgaria's Minister of Defense from 27 July 2009 to 27 January 2010 and as the minister of foreign affairs in the government of then prime minister Boyko Borisov from 2010 to 2013. Prior to that, he was a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009.

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. From 5 February 2015 until 31 December 2020, Mladenov served as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. When he left that role, he received praise from both Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Nikolay Mladenov was one of the two Bulgarian politicians exposed in the Pandora Papers, together with oligarch Delyan Peevski sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act. The leak revealed that he was the beneficial owner of an offshore company called Afron Enterprises in the Seychelles.

Mladenov denied any wrongdoing and claimed he simply founded an offshore firm to develop a consultancy practice before his involvement in the UN. However, the offshore company was founded on 9 August 2013, a week after Mladenov joined the UN as Special Representative in Iraq and Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq on 2 August 2013. Prior to the Pandora papers scandal in 2021, Mr. Mladenov had not disclosed his offshore company to the UN, despite being required to do so.

Early life and education
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 an MA in war studies from King's College London. His father, Evtim Mladenov, worked for the Committee for State Security (the Bulgarian equivalent of the KGB) and his uncle Mladen was an ambassador on behalf of the communist Bulgarian regime.

Career
Between 1996 and 1998 Mladenov was program director of the Open Society Foundations 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 Mladenov 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 Mladenov 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.

Member of the European Parliament, 2007–2009
Mladenov 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 parliament's delegation for relations with Iraq and member of the delegations to Israel and Afghanistan.

Mladenov is a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.

Career with the United Nations, 2013–2020
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 succeeded Martin Kobler of Germany. At the time, the country security had deteriorated as Sunni Islamist groups stepped up an insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government.

On 5 February 2015, Mladenov was appointed United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, replacing Dutch diplomat Robert Serry. As envoy, he caught flak over his bluntness. In 2016, he led efforts of the Quartet on the Middle East on issuing a report on concrete steps that could at least preserve the possibility of a two-state solution.

In late 2018, Mladenov was mentioned in news media as potential successor of Staffan de Mistura as United Nations Special Envoy for Syria.

Mladenov welcomed the Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement, adding that it would stop Israel's annexation plans which the UN has repeatedly called for to be stopped and hoped it will restart dialogue between Israel and Palestinians.

In December 2020 the Security Council approved United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres's proposal to appoint Mladenov as the new UN envoy for Libya. However, on December 21, he withdrew from the position citing "personal and family reasons".

Other activities

 * European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member