Stefan Dinchev Yanev ( bg, Стефан Динчев Янев) is a retired

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...

Brigade general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

and a politician. He was from 12 May to 13 December 2021 acting deputy prime minister, acting minister of defense and

caretaker government A caretaker government 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 usually consists of either randomly se ...

Prime Minister of Bulgaria The prime minister of Bulgaria ( bg, Министър-председател, Ministar-predsedatel) is the head of government of Bulgaria. They are the leader of a political coalition in the Bulgarian parliament – known as the National Assemb ...

Early life

He was born on 1 March 1960 in the Popovitsa,

Plovdiv Province Plovdiv Province ( bg, Област Пловдив: ''Oblast Plovdiv'', former name Plovdiv okrug) is a province in central southern Bulgaria. It comprises 18 municipalities (общини, ''obshtini'', sing. общинa, ''obshtina'') on a ter ...

. In 1979, he graduated from the Technical High School of Electrical Engineering in Plovdiv. Yanev graduated from the artillery military school in

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

(now a faculty of the

Vasil Levski National Military University , mottoeng = , established = 26 November 1878 , endowment = , rector = Brigadier-General Ivan Georgiev Malamov , vice_chancellor = , city = Veliko Tarnovo , state = , country = Bulgaria , students = , undergrad = , postgrad = , other = , ...

) and began building a career in the army in 1983, when he was appointed commander of an artillery platoon in Asenovgrad.

Military career

Yanev was a commander of

rocket artillery Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rocket explosives as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also us ...

division in the 4th Army Artillery Regiment in

Asenovgrad Asenovgrad ( bg, Асеновград ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a town in central southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province. It is the largest town in Bulgaria that is not a province center. Previously known as ''Stanimaka'' ( ...

(1993–1996). Between 1996 and 1998 he was a senior expert in the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Defense. He worked as an analysis officer at the PfP Coordination Group's Planning and Programming Department in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

(1998–2000). From 2000 to 2001 he was a senior assistant chief in the Strategic Planning Department of the General Staff of the

. Between 2001 and 2002 he was a state expert in the Euro-Atlantic Integration Directorate in the Ministry of Defense.Андон Дончев, ''Генералите от ракетните войски и артилерия на сухопътните войски на България'', Изд. Авангард Прима, 2018, ISBN 9786192391089, с. 326. Until 2004 he was head of a department in the Euro-Atlantic Integration Directorate in the Ministry of Defense. Yanev graduated from the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. From 2005 to 2007, he was Head of the Transformation Department at the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Counter-Terrorism Center in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. From 2007–2010, he was the Director of the Defense Policy Directorate at the Ministry of Defense. On 1 July 2009, he was appointed Director of the Security and Defense Policy Directorate and awarded the rank of Brigadier General. On 3 May 2010 he was appointed Director of the Defense Policy Directorate, effective as of 25 May On 24 February 2011 he was relieved of his post, serving later as the

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On 2 May 2014, he became the head of the

. He was relieved on the ninth of the following month, as well as dismissed from military service, as of 9 June 2014.

Political career

From 27 January to 4 May 2017 he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria in the caretaker government of

Ognyan Gerdzhikov Ognyan Stefanov Gerdzhikov ( bg, Огнян Стефанов Герджиков) (born 19 March 1946) is a Bulgarian politician and jurist who served as the interim Prime Minister from 27 January 2017 to 4 May 2017, following the resignation of Pri ...

, and subsequently Secretary of Security and Defense of President

Rumen Radev Rumen Georgiev Radev ( bg, Румен Георгиев Радев ; born 18 June 1963) is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who is the current president of Bulgaria since 22 January 2017. Radev previously served as higher command ...

Prime Minister (2021)

He was appointed to the post of

by President

on 12 May 2021, succeeding

Boyko Borisov Boyko Metodiev Borisov ( bg, Бойко Методиев Борисов, ; born 13 June 1959) is a Bulgarian politician who served as the prime minister of Bulgaria from 2009 to 2013, 2014 to 2017, and 2017 to 2021, making him Bulgaria's secon ...

. He headed consequently two governments,

the first The First may refer to: * ''The First'' (album), the first Japanese studio album by South Korean boy group Shinee * ''The First'' (musical), a musical with a book by critic Joel Siegel * The First (TV channel), an American conservative opinion ne ...

from May to September and

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the orig ...

from September to December. He was succeeded by

Kiril Petkov Kiril Petkov Petkov ( bg, Кирил Петков Петков; born 17 April 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur, who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from December 2021 to August 2022. He is the co-leader of We ...

on 13 December 2021.

Defence Minister (2022)

Yanev was dismissed from his post as Minister of Defense by Petkov, because the latter had introduced a political taboo on the use of Russian narratives, including the "special operation" label favoured by

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

to refer to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Yanev, who declared following Putin that it is not "war" in Ukraine but a "military operation", was dismissed on 1 March, a week after the start of the invasion.

Bulgarian Rise

After being ousted as defence minister, Yanev became critical of the government and founded his own party named

Bulgarian Rise Bulgarian Rise (; BV) is a national conservative political party in Bulgaria. It was founded on 5 May 2022 by Stefan Yanev, the former caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister. Political positions Some describe the party as both pro-Putin a ...

on 5 May. He also assumed the role as leader of the party.

Military ranks

* Lieutenant (1983) * Senior Lieutenant (1985) * Captain (1989) * Major (1994) * Lieutenant Colonel (1999) * Colonel (2004) * Brigadier General (2009)

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanev, Stefan 1960 births Living people Bulgarian conservatives Bulgarian engineers Bulgarian nationalists People from Plovdiv Province Deputy prime ministers of Bulgaria Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Bulgarian generals 20th-century Bulgarian military personnel 21st-century Bulgarian military personnel Defence ministers of Bulgaria