Ousted Bulgarian Ambassador to US Gets High-level Ministry Post

Lachezar Petkov (right) is seen with Bulgaria's new Deputy PM and Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov (middle) during a reception at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, DC in September 2009. Photo by BGNES

Former Bulgarian Ambassador to US, Lachezar Petkov, has been appointed Head of the Crisis Center at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Ministry's spokesperson, Vesela Cherneva, announced Tuesday.

After presenting his diplomatic career at the Ministry, dating from 1983, Cherneva stressed Petkov enjoys the full trust of the institution.

A the end of 2009, then Foreign Minister, Rumyana Jeleva, the first top diplomat of the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, recalled Petkov and the Ambassador to Turkey, Branimir Mladenov, over violations committed during the July 2009 general elections. Initially, President, Georgi Parvanov, refused to approve the recall, saying he needed more information and proof for the violations. Petkov submitted his resignation in the beginning of December.

After the 2009 elections, the ballots and other document prepared to be sent to Sofia via diplomatic mail, have been thrown in the trash by the cleaning lady at the Washington DC Embassy and her husband because they believed the bag had been filled with old newspapers.

Upon realizing the blunder, the Embassy sent four employees to wait at the landfill for the waste truck, but the bag was never located.

Petkov announced the mistake was the fault of the Embassy's security guard, an employee of the National Security Services, NSO, which triggered the NSO anger over the exposure of one of their workers.

At the Tuesday briefing, Cherneva refused to let Petkov answer a reporter's question if the issues with NSO have been cleared. After the briefing, the former Ambassador stated for the media the "Washington DC page of his career was closed and he was looking only in the future.

Cherneva also introduced the new Chief Inspector of the Ministry, Katya Todorova, who is replacing Nikolay Marin.

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