Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian foreign minister and seasoned United Nations envoy, has emerged as a leading contender to take on a senior international role in post-war Gaza, a move that would underscore the growing influence of the United Arab Emirates in U.S.- and Israeli-backed plans for the enclave.
Mladenov, who served for nearly six years as the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, is being discussed by U.S. officials as a possible alternative to former British prime minister Tony Blair, whose mooted involvement prompted widespread criticism and forced Washington and Israel to look elsewhere, according to Western and Arab officials.
If appointed, Mladenov would work on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza, an initiative closely linked to figures around Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the architects of the 2020 Abraham Accords that normalised relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the UAE.
From Sofia to the Gulf
Mladenov’s rise from post-communist Bulgarian politics to the upper tiers of Middle East diplomacy mirrors a broader trend in which former European politicians and generals find second careers in the Gulf. After leaving the UN in 2021, he was appointed head of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, cementing close ties with Emirati decision-makers.
Born in Sofia in 1972 to a family linked to Bulgaria’s former communist elite, Mladenov later reinvented himself as a pro-Western reformer, advocating European integration in the 1990s. He went on to serve as Bulgaria’s defence minister and foreign minister, and as a member of the European Parliament, before moving into international diplomacy.
As UN envoy, he was widely credited with maintaining working relationships across the spectrum, from Israel to the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. He played a role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in 2018, working alongside Egypt, and was praised by officials on all sides for his grasp of the conflict’s political and emotional complexities.
“I come from the Balkans,” Mladenov said in a 2021 interview, arguing that the region’s history of shifting borders and contested identities gave him a useful perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
UAE steps forward as others hesitate
Mladenov’s possible appointment comes as regional powers recalibrate their roles following Israel’s devastating war in Gaza. Qatar, long a key interlocutor and aid provider for Gaza, has signalled reluctance to take on a post-war reconstruction role, while Saudi Arabia has stopped short of committing funds without progress towards Palestinian statehood.
The UAE, by contrast, has emerged as Gaza’s largest donor and one of Israel’s most consistent Arab partners since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks. Emirati officials have positioned Abu Dhabi as a pragmatic actor capable of working with Washington and Tel Aviv while managing Arab sensitivities.
Western diplomats say that dynamic is central to Mladenov’s appeal. “It’s less about the individual and more about who is driving the process,” one Western official said, adding that any figure appointed would face intense scrutiny, but that Mladenov was seen as closely aligned with Emirati thinking and, by extension, acceptable to Israel.
Kushner connection, political risks
Mladenov forged ties with Kushner during negotiations over the Abraham Accords, which he publicly defended as a way to halt Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank in 2020. Critics across the Arab world viewed the deals as sidelining Palestinian aspirations.
Post-war planning for Gaza is now being coordinated largely by U.S. political appointees close to Kushner, according to diplomats, even as a fragile ceasefire faces repeated violations and international forces remain hesitant to deploy on the ground.
The UN Security Council has authorised an international stabilisation mission for Gaza, but Arab and Muslim states are wary of becoming trapped between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces, which still control large parts of the territory.
Against that backdrop, Mladenov’s candidacy highlights how Washington and Israel are leaning on the UAE to shoulder a larger political role in Gaza’s future — and how experienced intermediaries from outside the region are being drawn back into one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.