site.btaBulgarians Abroad Object to Appointment of Acting Bulgarians Abroad Agency Head

113 POLITICS - BULGARIANS ABROAD - AGENCY - OBJECTION

Bulgarians Abroad Object to
Appointment of Acting Bulgarians Abroad
Agency Head


Sofia, October 21 (BTA) - Bulgarians abroad have addressed
caretaker Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki, Deputy Prime
Minister Iliyana Tsanova and the Deputy Chair of the State
Agency of Bulgarians Abroad, Iva Yordanova, who is now acting as
chairperson, in connection with her appointment to the latter
position. A copy of the open letter has been sent to President
Rosen Plevneliev, Ombudsman Konstantin Penchev and the media.

The letter objects to Yordanova's appointment without following
a regulated procedure and the principles of transparency in
public institutions. These procedures guarantee that the
selected candidate has the required qualities and skills to hold
a public office, the letter says.

The letter also refers to a press release of the Council of
Ministers referring to the appointment and explaining that
Yordanova headed a team which successfully organized a platform
for contacts with Bulgarians abroad before the parliamentary
elections on October 5 through the social networks. It insists
on concrete criteria, a serious qualification and transparency
at the appointment of senior officials at the Agency for
Bulgarians Abroad. It also demands that the Agency develop and
apply applicable effective policies to reach as much Bulgarians
as possible abroad, and that not only before elections.

The objective of the Agency should be to reach not only 300,000
of the Bulgarians abroad on a single occasion, but to the rest 2
million or so Bulgarian citizens outside the country, as well
as to make concerted and coordinated efforts to implement real
policies for and together with them, the letter says. The open
letter has been signed by 46 Bulgarians residing in Germany,
Austria, Denmark, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands,
Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Australia and
Greece./VI/BR