Rumen Radew
Date of Birth: June 18, 1963
Rumen Georgiew Radew - Bulgarian military and politician, 5th President of Bulgaria (since January 22, 2017), commander of the Bulgarian Air Force (2014-2016), Major General.
Place of Birth. Education. Rumen Radew was born on June 18, 1963, in Dimitrovgrad. In 1982, he graduated from the Mathematics School in Haskovo with a gold medal. In 1987, he graduated as the best student from the Bulgarian Air Force University Georgi Benkovsky. In 1992, he completed the Maxwell Air Officer School in the United States.
From 1994 to 1996, he studied at the Rakovski Defense and Staff College, where he was also the best graduate. He is a Doctor of Military Sciences in the field of improving the tactical training of flight teams and air combat simulation.
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In 2003, he graduated from the Air War College at Maxwell AFB in the USA as a Master of Strategic Studies with honors.
He speaks English, German, and Russian.
Military Career. 1987-1988 - Junior pilot in the 15th Fighter Regiment - Rawnez.
1989-1990 - Deputy Commander of the Battalion in the 15th Fighter Regiment - Ravnec.
From 1990 to 1994 he was a battalion commander in the 15th Fighter Regiment - Ravnec.
From 1996 to 1998 he was the commander of the MiG-29 squadron at the fifth fighter base - Ravnec.
1998-1999 - Deputy Commander for Flight Preparation at the fifth fighter base - Ravnec.
1999-2000 - Deputy Commander for Flight Preparation at the third fighter base Graf Ignatievo.
2000 - Studying Bulgarian Air Defense - NATO, Brussels.
From 2000 to 2002, he was the Chief of Staff of the third fighter base Graf Ignatievo.
From 2003 to 2005, he was the Chief of Staff of the third fighter base Graf Ignatievo.
From 2005 to 2009, he was the commander of the third fighter base Graf Ignatievo.
From 2009 to 2014, he was the Deputy Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force.
From 2014 to 2016, he was the Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force.
Political Career. In August 2016, the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV) officially nominated Radew as their candidate for the presidential elections in November 2016. Alongside him, BSP MEP Iliyana Yotova ran for vice president. In the same month, ABV withdrew its support for General Radew's presidential candidacy in favor of another person.
In the first round of the presidential elections in Bulgaria on November 6, 2016, Rumen Radew received 25.44% of the votes, surpassing Cecilia Zakheva by 3.5%. With this result, he entered the runoff election on November 13, 2016, where voters had to choose between him and the candidate from the ruling party 'Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria', Cecilia Zakheva. Radew received over 59% of the votes in the second round, while Zakheva did not even reach 40%.
He took office as President of Bulgaria on January 22, 2017.
In November 2021, Rumen Radew was re-elected for another term in the presidential elections.
Family. Radew has two children from his first marriage to Ginka Radeva, which ended in divorce in 2011: daughter Darina, born in 2001, and son Georgi, born in 2003.
He later married Desislava Gencheva.
September 26, 2023.