Nickolay Mladenov was the Segal Distinguished Visiting Fellow at The Washington Institute until his appointment as High Representative for Gaza in January 2026. An accomplished Bulgarian politician and diplomat, he is the director-general of the UAE's Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. He previously served as UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process (2015-2020).
Mladenov's career has included serving as Bulgaria's minister of foreign affairs and minister of defense as well as a member of the European Parliament. In 2013, he was appointed representative for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He assumed the peace process coordinator post two years later, where he played a critical role in helping to defuse cross-border violence between Israel and Hamas and preserve the idea of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
