Rosen Asenov Plevneliev (, born 14 May 1964) is a Bulgarian politician who served as the 4th President of Bulgaria from 2012 to 2017. Affiliated with the GERB party, he previously served as Minister of Regional Development and Public Works from 2009 to 2011.

Biography

Rosen Plevneliev was born in Gotse Delchev. His mother, Slavka Plevnelieva, was a teacher, and his father, Asen Plevneliev, was an activist of the Communist Party. He relocated to

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...

alongside his parents when he turned 10 years old. His family descended from Bulgarian refugees from southern Macedonia who resettled from today's village of Petrousa in the municipality of Prosotsani in Drama regional unit, Greek Macedonia, in 1913. The Plevneliev family name refers to the Bulgarian name of the village Petroussa, Plevnya (Плевня, "barn"). Plevneliev studied at

Mathematical and Natural Sciences High School, from which he graduated in 1982. In 1989 he graduated from the Higher Mechanical-Electrotechnical Institute,

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, and in the same year become a fellow at the Institute for Microprocessing Technology, Pravets. While studying in the university, he was a Komsomol member of the Bulgarian Communist Party. After the political changes, in 1990, Plevneliev started a private building company in Bulgaria. Among other projects, the company built the Sofia Business Park. He was married to the journalist Yuliyana Plevnelieva from 2000 until their divorce in 2017; they had three sons: Filip, Asen and Pavel. One of the sons, Filip, died in 2015 at the age of 14. In addition to his native Bulgarian, he speaks English and German fluently.

Political career

Plevneliev and Clinton at the Presidency in Sofia

Plevneliev became Minister of Regional Development and Public Works under Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov on 27 July 2009. Minister Plevneliev was one of a handful of "reformers" in the government, together with Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov, the Minister of Economy Traicho Traikov and the Minister of Environment Nona Karadzhova. He was announced as GERB's candidate for President of Bulgaria on 4 September 2011. He subsequently won the presidential election in a second round held on 30 October 2011, with a majority of 52.58% of the vote. He defeated Ivaylo Kalfin from the Bulgarian Socialist Party in the second round. He took the presidential oath on 19 January 2012 and officially took over from his predecessor Georgi Parvanov on 22 January 2012. Among his priorities are administrative reforms, energy efficiency and energy independence and removing of ambassadors of Bulgaria in foreign countries who have served as secret agents during the Communist regime. As a result of the 2013 Bulgarian protests against monopoly and high electricity prices, the conservative government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov tendered its resignation on 20 February 2013. President Plevneliev, acting in accordance with the constitution, offered a mandate to form a new government within the term of the current Parliament to GERB, BSP and DPS but after each of them declined, Plevneliev appointed a caretaker government on 13 March 2013, with

Marin Raykov Marin Raykov Nikolov ( ; born 17 December 1960) is a Bulgarian people, Bulgarian politician and diplomat who was appointed to serve as a Caretaker government, caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bulgaria), ministe ...

, the Bulgarian ambassador in Paris as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2013, due to the prolonged protests against the involvement of oligarchy in politics and the government, Plevneliev organised the 'Dialogue with citizens' initiative, which involved three debates, focused on market economy, the judicial system and media freedom. Plevneliev advocates for closer relations between Bulgaria and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Plevneliev has frequently criticized the immigration policy in the UK set by the former Prime Minister,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. By appointing the Bliznashki Government on 6 August 2014, Plevneliev has become the first President of Bulgaria to appoint more than one

caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...

. In October 2022, Rosen Plevneliev was invited by GERB to become head of a contact group for cabinet talks, formed by the party. He accepted the invitation. The contact group held meetings with all the pro-European and democratic forces within the 48th National Assembly. However the negotiations ended with no agreement reached. A year later, in September 2023, Plevneliev along with the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria Solomon Passy and a number of other opinion leaders and public figures issued a public statement, proposing that Bulgaria's EU and NATO membership be included in the Constitution of Bulgaria.

Controversies

In January 2014 the tax authorities launched an investigation on President Rosen Plevneliev and his relatives. This action was perceived as politically motivated assault by the Oresharski Government. Other reformist members of the Boyko Borisov government were also subject to such investigations.

Honours

Foreign honours

* : Grand Collar of the Order of the Redeemer (4 July 2012) * : Order of the White Eagle (14 November 2014) * : Grand Collar of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

(15 June 2015) * : Grand Cross of the Order of the White Double Cross (10 December 2015) *: Grand Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross (1 February 2016) *: Grand Collar of the Order of Makarios III (22 February 2016) *: Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (26 April 2016) *: Honor of the Nation Decoration (1 June 2016) *: Grand Cross Special Class of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(22 June 2016) *: First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (29 June 2016) *: Order for Exceptional Merits (25 July 2016) *: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(4 August 2016) *: Grand Order of King Tomislav (25 August 2016) *: Order of the Republic (5 October 2016) *: Grand Cross with Chain of the Hungarian Order of Merit (10 November 2016) *: Collar of the Order of the Star of Romania (2016) *: Companion of Honour of the National Order of Merit (17 November 2016) *: Grand Cross of the Order of the Republic of Montenegro (20 December 2016) *

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

: Order of St. George *: Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(15 November 2018)

References

Bibliography

External links

Personal websiteOfficial site of the PresidencyVideo for President candidacy
YouTube , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Plevneliev, Rosen 1964 births Bulgarian businesspeople Macedonian Bulgarians Bulgarian engineers Eastern Orthodox Christians from Bulgaria GERB politicians Government ministers of Bulgaria Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Living people People from Gotse Delchev Presidents of Bulgaria Technical University, Sofia alumni Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class