site.btaElections Abroad, Nomination of EU Commissioner Are among Priorities of New Foreign Minister

Sofia, August 6 (BTA) - The holding of the early parliamentary elections abroad and the support for the bid of Kirstalina Georgieva as Bulgaria's Commissioner in the EU are among the priorities of the new Foreign Minister, Daniel Mitov. This transpired at a ceremony of takeover of power between the old and the new minister held at the Foreign Minister.

"It is a great honour for me to be here and to give my contribution so that Bulgaria would conduct a worthy foreign policy in the next few months," Mitov said quoted by the Ministry's press centre.

He presented briefly his priorities and stressed that they are highly specific as is the nature of a caretaker cabinet. "First, we should create conditions for normal conducting of the elections abroad," said he. An analysis will be made of the problems encountered in previous elections and efforts will be made to eliminate them as well as to hold a good awareness campaign regarding the voting procedure among the Bulgarian communities abroad.

Another priority is ensuring maximum support for the bid of Kristalina Georgieva for EU Commissioner. According to informal sources, Georgieva, hitherto Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, stands chances to be elected as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. "We should do the best  as ministry, so that Bulgaria would have the best portfolio and position in the next European Commission," said he.

He pointed out the preparation for the upcoming NATO summit in Wales in the beginning of September and in the UN General Assembly in the autumn as other priority tasks. The Ministry's agenda also includes undertaking of following institutional steps for Bulgaria's accession to the Single Banking Supervision Mechanism.

"As minister, I did my best, so as to leave the ministry in a better state than I found it," Mitov's predecessor Kristian Vigenin said. "We made efforts, so that Bulgaria could considerably strengthen its positions in Southeastern Europe and the Black Sea region. We managed to strengthen bilateral relations with a large part of the European countries. We made efforts regarding the Bulgarian communities abroad and, in particular, in Moldova and Ukraine," said Vigenin.