Bulgaria Temporarily Relocates Embassy in Japan

The Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Vesela Cherneva, informs the Ministry is conducting between 100 and 200 phone calls daily with Bulgarians now Japan. Photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian Embassy in Japan will be temporarily moved from Tokyo to Fukuoka, about 1 000 kilometers south of the capital.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Vesela Cherneva, made the announcement Tuesday, explaining the decision was made over the increased levels of radiation in Tokyo from the quake-stricken Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

Cherneva says the Embassy employees are to stay in Fukuoka until the situation in Tokyo returns to normal. The Consular Office, however, is to remain in the capital in order to keep serving Bulgarian citizens.

The spokesperson further informs the Ministry is conducting between 100 and 200 phone calls daily with Bulgarians now Japan.

The Foreign Ministry also announces that a new Consul has been sent to Sofia, after the first one, Chavdar Gradinarski, unexpectedly took his family and fled the country in the aftermath of the March 11 devastating 9 point on the Richter scale earthquake and 10-meter tsunami.

Cherneva says a disciplinary council at the Ministry is already examining and probing Gradinarski's case.