site.btaVice President Comments on Appointment of Charge d'Affaires to Ukraine

Vice President Iliana Iotova Tuesday commented on the appointment of a new charge d'affaires at the Bulgarian Embassy in Kyiv. Iotova said the appointment of Nikolay Nenchev was "a flagrant violation of the spirit of the Constitution" whose Article 98 spells out the President's powers to appoint the heads of diplomatic representations on a Council of Ministers' proposal. "How is it possible to appoint a charge d'affaires, which is a downgrade by all diplomatic criteria, during a war in Ukraine?" she asked.

Bulgaria is a few hundred kilometres away from Ukraine and Sofia's every single decision and position sends a very important signal, Iotova stressed.

The Vice President said that Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, who is also Foreign Minister, owes explanations because it is the chief diplomat who names a charge d'affaires. "We are pursuing a balanced policy towards the conflict. It is constantly being repeated that we help Ukraine very much, but such actions show that these are words rather than deeds," she commented.

On Monday, Atlantic Club in Bulgaria President Solomon Passy said that Nenchev had been approved as Bulgaria's diplomatic representative to Ukraine. Iotova said Passy apparently intended to face everyone with a fait accompli. "I understand that this appointment should become a reality in a matter of days," she said.

"What is needed is a very experienced, very capable diplomat; obviously, the President found that the nominee does not meet these conditions," said Iotova.

Ealier in the day, President Rumen Radev called on the Foreign Ministry to comply strictly with the Constitution and the procedures for the appointment of heads of the Bulgarian embassies.

Asked if there is a conflict between the Council of Ministers and the presidential institution, Iotova said that so far she had not seen any conflicts. "The President has no responsibility towards the caretaker cabinet as provided by the latest revisions of the Constitution, but this does not mean that it should be flagrantly violated every time, robbing the President of powers which belong to him even under the effective Constitution," said Iotova. She saw Nenchev's appointment as an attempt to circumvent the Constitution on a sensitive issue.