site.btaPresident Radev Signs First Decrees

President Radev Signs First  Decrees

Sofia, January 23 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev has signed his first decrees as head of State, his press secretariat said.

Radev decreed that there will be an Administration of the President and Councils helping the President and the Vice President to exercise their powers.

The Administration of the President consists of the Chief Secretary, the Chef de Cabinet of the President, and the Chef de Cabinet of the Vice President.

The President will have Secretaries for Foreign Policy; for Bulgaria's Presidency of the EU Council in 2018; for Security and Defence; for Legal Affairs and Anti-corruption; for Culture; for Regional Development; for Economy and Investments; for Social Policies and Health Care; for Education, Science and Innovations; for Home Affairs and Civil Society; and for Media Relations.

Five commissions are set up within the Administration of the President: on Bulgarian Citizenship; on Pardon; on Affording Asylum; on Forgiving Uncollectible State Receivables; and on Naming Places of National Importance and Nucleated Settlements.

The following five councils are set up within the Administration of the President as advisory bodies participating in decision-making, in formulating positions and opinions, and in taking initiatives in public life: on Foreign Policy, Security and Defence; on Legal Affairs; on Culture; on Economic and Social Development; and on Education, Science and Innovations.

The President decreed that Vice President Iliana Iotova will have the following powers enshrined in the Constitution: to decree the acquisition, resumption, release from, and deprivation of, Bulgarian citizenship; to afford asylum; to exercise the right to pardon; and to appoint and release from office civil servants under the Bulgarians Resident outside the Republic of Bulgaria Act.

Radev appointed Dimiter Stoyanov as Chief Secretary of the President; Ivo Hristov as Chef de Cabinet of the President; Nadya Mladenova as Chef de Cabinet of the Vice President; Emilia Drumeva as Secretary for Legal Affairs; and Atanas Krustin as Secretary for Foreign Policy.

The President also appointed Ilia Hristozov as Advisor on Economy and Investments; Nevyanka Kaneva as Advisor on Legal Affairs; and Nikolay Koprinkov as Advisor on Home Affairs and Civil Society.