Atanas Zapryanov served as Minister of Defence in the government elected by the 51st National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria from 16 January 2025 to 19 February 2026.
He is a Lieutenant General (Ret.). He was appointed Minister of Defence in the caretaker government on 9 April 2024.
He served as Deputy Minister of Defence on three occasions: from July 2016 to January 2017; from May 2017 to April 2021; and from June 2023 to 8 April 2024.
Throughout his professional career, he has held various command and staff positions in the Signal Corps of the Bulgarian Army. He served as Commandant of the G. S. Rakovski Military Academy, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army for Resources, and Representative of the Chief of the General Staff to the military committees of NATO and the European Union.
He is fluent in English.
