The Bulgarian government is proposing to President Roumen Radev to issue decrees for the appointment of new ambassadors of Bulgaria in six countries, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel said after a Cabinet meeting on October 18.
The government is proposing that Petar Tanev be appointed ambassador to Ukraine.
Bulgaria’s embassy in Kyiv and consulate in Odesa suspended operations in February 2022, soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In August 2022, the ambassador, Kostadin Kodzhabashev, was appointed deputy foreign minister in a caretaker government appointed by Radev.
In April 2023, it was announced that Kodzabashev was being appointed Bulgaria’s ambassador to the Vatican.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visiting Sofia on July 6, called for the appointment of an ambassador to Ukraine as soon as possible. Nothing in this regard happened while the Radev-appointed caretaker government was in office.
Other nominations announced on October 18 include Tihomir Stoichev, currently a deputy foreign minister and a former ambassador to the United States, to become ambassador in London, replace Marin Raykov, whose term has expired.
Radka Balabanova is nominated to become ambassador to Paris. The previous ambassador there, Nikolai Milkov, became caretaker foreign minister in August 2022, and in April 2023, became Bulgaria’s permanent representative to Nato.
Other nominations are Petar Kraychev to become ambassador in Seoul, Tanya Dimitrov in Jakarta and Encho Dimitrov in Canberra. The terms of Bulgaria’s current ambassadors in Seoul and Jakarta expire at the end of this month.
“The people we have nominated are career diplomats who have experience,” Gabriel said.
“I use this opportunity to thank the President of the Republic of Bulgaria for the constructive discussions we have had so far, with the aim of meeting the deadlines. And, of course, minimising the risk of periods in which Bulgaria has no ambassador,” she said.
Source : Sofiaglobe
