site.btaVelizar Shalamanov Appointed Deputy Foreign Minister

Velizar Shalamanov has been appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs by order of caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov, the Ministry said on Thursday.

Shalamanov has extensive professional experience in the field of defence and national security. He served as minister of defence in 2014 and as deputy defence minister from 1998 to 2001. Between 2001 and 2009, he was adviser to the President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on national security and defence issues and programme director at the Center for National Security and Defence Research.

He was a member of Parliament in the 45th and 46th National Assemblies, where he served as Deputy Chair of the Defence Committee and head of Bulgaria’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Shalamanov has also held senior international positions, including Chair of the Supervisory Board of the NATO Communications and Information Agency, Director for User Cooperation at the Agency, and Director for Nations Cooperation at the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency.

On February 19, Marin Raykov and Radi Naydenov were also appointed Deputy Foreign Ministers.