INTRODUCING BULGARIA'S NEW DEFENSE AND FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000081 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2020 TAGS: PGOV EFIN ECON PREL BU SUBJECT: INTRODUCING BULGARIA'S NEW DEFENSE AND FOREIGN MINISTERS Classified By: AMB James Warlick for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Bulgaria's new Minister of Foreign Affairs -- former Defense Minister Nikolay Mladenov -- is a dynamic, strategic thinker who will put a young, modern face on Bulgarian foreign relations. To replace Mladenov at the MOD, PM Borissov has tapped Deputy Defense Minister Anyu Angelov, a respected military insider with 40 years of experience but lacking the charisma and vision of his predecessor. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Former Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva's failed European Commissioner bid and subsequent resignation on January 19 forced Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to initiate an impromptu cabinet reshuffle. Lacking an appropriate alternative, Borissov moved his talented and dynamic Defense Minister, Nickolay Mladenov, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and placed Deputy Minister of Defense Anyu Angelov into the top spot at MOD. The two were confirmed in their new positions on January 27. ¶3. (C) Mladenov, 37, is one of the youngest and brightest stars in Borissov's cabinet. A former Member of the European Parliament (MEP),Mladenov was the first person to become Minister of Defense without military experience. Mladenov is modern-thinking and western oriented. He is dynamic, with a famous work ethic and the strategic vision to challenge entrenched interests inside the military and his ministry. While Minister of Defense, Mladenov made deepening the United States-Bulgaria relationship his top priority and worked to expand deployments to Afghanistan and find creative new uses for the joint bases. While he made progress, much of his time and attention was drawn into cleaning up the legal, structural, and budgetary mess left behind by the previous Minister. We can expect Mladenov to take his reformist, transatlanic attitude with him to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). It is rumored that he will continue to have input into important security decisions, though how this will work in practice is not yet clear. He will undoubtedly represent Bulgaria well in his new role and will put a young, modern face on Bulgaria. ¶4. (C) Taking over at the MOD will be Anyu Angelov, 67, a retired Lieutenant-General with a distinguished career in the Bulgarian Army. In his more than 40 years of service, he reached the position of Deputy Chief of General Staff in 1994, and served as Defense Attache to the United Kingdom from 1997-2000. While Angelov has extensive military experience, he lacks Mladenov's vision and charisma and, due to his long military career, may be less willing to tackle entrenched interests. Angelov is detail-oriented and has had success in hammering out complicated changes to rules and regulations. He first gained prominence inside the MOD when he was put in charge of the working group that developed the first Defense Law in 1995 and played an instrumental role in the development of several other important documents including the Military Service Personnel Regulations and Armed Forces Regulations (1996-1997) and Law on Bulgaria's National Security Forces Reserve (2002). ¶5. (C) Comment: The MOD's loss of Mladenov is the MFA's gain. With his reformist bent, Mladenov is likely to embark on a full-scale review and restructuring of a demoralized MFA, which has long had difficulty attracting young talent. At Defense, Angelov has big shoes to fill. The selection of his close advisors and his replacement as Deputy Minister will signal if he is prepared to challenge the status quo and push for needed reform. WARLICK