site.btaEC Declines to Comment Kristalina Georgieva's Possible Participation in UN Secretary-General Race

EC Declines to Comment Kristalina Georgieva's Possible Participation in UN Secretary-General Race

Brussels, September 23 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - European Commission (EC) Spokesperson Alexander Winterstein declined to answer questions, during a Friday news conference here, related to the possible participation of EC Vice President Kristalina Georgieva in the UN secretary-general race.

Winterstein said he is unaware of any EU commissioners joining the race. The selection process has started, he recalled, adding that Georgieva is following publications in the press like everyone else. The Commission has no comment, he said.

In a report from New York, Agence France Presse wrote that the Vice-President of the European Commission Kristalina Georgieva hinted Thursday that she might soon join the race to succeed Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary General. Mentioning that the 63-year-old Bulgarian economist enjoys the support of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the story quotes Georgieva as saying that it was up to the Bulgarian government to decide. "I am honored to see that many people encourage me to be a candidate," she reportedly said at a conference organized by the Peace Institute in New York. "As a Bulgarian, I would say this is a decision for the Bulgarian government to make."

AFP further says that another Bulgarian, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, is already in the race for UNSG "but despite the support of Russia she hasn't shone" in the last Security Council ballots.