Bulgarian Consul Underpants Photo Upsets Bulgarian-Americans

Georgieva as Bulgarian Consul in Chicago (left - 2009), and as a diplomat turned erotic model (right - 2007). File photo

By Ron Grossman
Chicago Tribune

The arrival of a consular official in Chicago is generally uneventful. There might be an article in a foreign-language newspaper or a welcoming luncheon. Then it's on to the nitty-gritty of stamping passport renewals and facilitating trade relations.

But Lila Georgieva's recent posting as Bulgaria's consul caused a bit of a splash, with a ripple effect back to her homeland.

Last week, a Sofia television interviewer asked Prime Minister Boyko Borisov about her appointment. Some Bulgarian-Americans were unhappy with Georgieva, who once posed for a photographer friend, looking back over her shoulder at the camera, clad in minimalist underpants.

The story might have ended there, except the picture won a contest -- and Georgieva posted it on her Web site.

That wasn't a good career move for a diplomat.

The prime minister ducked the question. But the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington says it is aware of three people putting their objections in writing (an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Bulgarian-Americans live the Chicago area).

Georgieva declined to comment.

Two years ago, her superiors, confronting her with the revealing shot, sentenced Georgieva to the diplomatic-service equivalent of Siberia: A year of pushing paper in Sofia. Last year, she passed over a chance to be consul in Brazil.

Perhaps she should've chosen Rio de Janeiro over Chicago: Critics might be fewer, and thongs are more commonplace.

 

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!