Nikolai Mladenov is to be Bulgaria's new Foreign Minister, succeeding outgoing minister Roumyana Zheleva, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said after a Cabinet meeting on January 20 2010.

Deputy Defence Minister Anyu Angelov will succeed Mladenov as Defence Minister.

Borissov's announcement follows the acceptance of the resignation as Foreign Minister as Zheleva, who on January 19 2010 wrote to Borissov saying that she wanted to withdraw as Bulgaria's candidate European Commissioner and from all posts that she held.

Although the Cabinet media office issued a statement on January 19 saying that Zheleva's resignation from all posts had been accepted, Borissov repudiated this at a news conference soon after the statement was issued, saying that he had accepted only her resignation as European Commissioner-designate, not as Foreign Minister.

However, on January 20 it emerged that the parliamentary group of ruling party GERB, which is headed by Borissov, had recommended to Borissov that he also accept her resignation from the foreign ministry.

Mladenov started his political career with the Union of Democratic Forces, serving as party spokesperson in 2002/04 and deputy leader in 2004/05.

He resigned in 2005 and later joined GERB, winning a European Parliament seat in the 2007 elections after Bulgaria joined the EU.

Formerly the programme director of the Open Society Institute in Sofia and a programme co-ordinator at the World Bank, he was a World Bank adviser in 2005/07.

Mladenov has degrees in international relations from UNWE and King’s College London.