Anyu Angelov
Anyu Angelov (Bulgarian: Аню Ангелов) (born 22 December 1942 in Haskovo) is Bulgaria's Minister of Defense.[1] Born in Haskovo on December 22, 1942. He graduated the National Military Artillery School "Georgi Dimitrov" (now Faculty "Artillery, Air Defense and Communications" at NMU) with a degree in radio electronics engineer. He then studied at the Military Academy "Rakovska" under the program of operational and strategic direction of the armed forces. He specialized in the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR in Moscow. Began his military career as a platoon leader. Later he became Chief of Staff, Commander of the Brigade. From 1987 he was Head of Staff, and between 1990 and 1992 - commander of the air defense (PVO) of the Land Forces. From 1992 to 1994 he was Deputy Commander of the Land Forces. In the period 1994-1997 was Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army. Between 1997 and 2000 he was a defense attache in the UK. Then became head of the Military Academy "G. S. Rakovski "(until 2002). Became a member of the GOP "GERB" which allows him political development and was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense. On 27 January 2010 formally took office as Minister of Defense.
As Minister of Defence, Angelov is expected to have some big shoes to fill, hinted to by a US diplomatic cable recovered from Cablegate:
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.
Life
Angelov started his career as Commander of an autonomous platoon, and was later appointed Department Deputy Chief at the Land Forces Air Defense Command, Chief of Staff and Brigade Commander. From 1987 to 1990 he was Land Forces Air Defense Chief of Staff, and from 1990 to 1992 he served as Land Forces Air Defense Commander in Chief. Until 1994 Angelov was Deputy Commander in Chief of the Bulgarian Land Forces, and from December 1994 to September 1997 he was Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. From November 1997 to August 2000, Angelov was Defense Attaché of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Later on, until February 2002, he was Commandant of the Rakovski Defence and Staff College. For a short period of time in 2002, he was also Director for Defense Planning at the Ministry of Defence.[2] On 27 January, he officially became Bulgaria's Minister of Defense