Bogomil Bonev facts for kids

Bogomil Angelov Bonev (born September 18, 1957) is a Bulgarian politician. He was the Minister of Interior of Bulgaria from 1997 to 1999.

Biography

Early life and police career

Bogomil Bonev was born on September 18, 1957, in Radomir, Bulgaria. He was a very good student and finished Radmir Electronics Technical High School with a gold medal in 1977.

After serving in the army, he joined the Higher Officers Academy of the Ministry of Interior in 1981. He was the best graduate that year. Because of this, he was chosen to work directly in the Criminal Department of the Sofia Police Directorate. This was a special honor, as usually only very experienced officers got to work there.

From 1981 to 1990, he worked as a police inspector. He focused on solving serious cases. He was promoted many times because he successfully solved many difficult crimes.

In 1987, he also earned a law degree from the Saint Kliment Ohridski Sofia University. He graduated with high honors.

Political career

Bogomil Bonev became a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1975 when he was 18.

In 1990, when Bulgaria was going through big political changes, he asked to become an investigator for serious crimes. In 1991, he was made Director of the Sofia Police Directorate. Soon after, he became the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Interior. He was the youngest general to be promoted to this rank by President Zhelyu Zhelev.

After the government changed, Bogomil Bonev left his position. He then started working as a lawyer. He also advised a political group called the Union of the Democratic Forces on issues related to national security.

In January 1997, he became the Secretary for National Security Issues to the new President, Petar Stoyanov.

Minister of Interior

In February 1997, Bogomil Bonev was chosen to be the Minister of Interior in a temporary government. Stefan Sofiyanski was the Prime Minister. He worked hard to fight against organized crime. Because of his success, he kept his position in the next government, led by Prime Minister Ivan Kostov.

As Minister of Interior, Bogomil Bonev helped Bulgaria meet all the requirements of the "Budapest process." This allowed Bulgaria to be removed from the negative Schengen visa list. This meant Bulgarians could travel more easily to countries in the European Community.

He also brought in new technologies for the police. He introduced the first national DNA laboratory in Central and Eastern Europe. He also brought in an automated fingerprint system called AFP. He even invited experts from the FBI in the USA to help set these up.

Bogomil Bonev also started the process of creating new, very secure ID documents for Bulgarian citizens. These documents are still considered some of the best in Europe for their security features. A competition was held to choose a company to make these documents. HP and Cappelen–Austria won the competition. The Bulgarian government did not have to pay for this, which was a great achievement. This project was seen as very fair and free from corruption.

In late 1999, after the European Committee decided to remove the visa requirements for Bulgaria, Prime Minister Ivan Kostov decided to remove Bogomil Bonev from his position. This happened because Bogomil Bonev was very popular with the public, even more popular than the Prime Minister and his government. There were also some political disagreements that led to his removal.

Presidential elections in 2001

In 2001, Bogomil Bonev ran for President in the presidential elections. He received 19% of the votes, which was almost 600,000 votes. This was a very strong result for him.

Law career

After his time as Minister, Bogomil Bonev worked as a lawyer. He advised big companies, like Philip Morris, on how to fight against fake products. In 2009, he became the Executive Director of the International Plovdiv Fair company.

Bogomil Bonev was also the President of the Bulgarian Equestrian Federation for ten years.

Family

Since 2006, he has been married to Nona Yotova. She is a well-known actress, singer-songwriter, and TV journalist in Bulgaria.