Bulgarian FM to Appeal Case Lost to Recalled Diplomats

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will appeal its court loss against diplomats it fired due to their past allegiance to former communist secret services.

Tuesday Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court revoked the recall orders issued by Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov to Bulgaria's ambassadors to the Netherlands, Serbia and Greece, Zlatin Trapkov, Georgi Dimitrov and Andrey Karaslavov, respectively.

Trapkov, Dimitrov and Karaslavov filed complaints after they, together with over 30 acting heads of diplomatic missions, were revealed to have worked for the secret services of the communist regime by the so-called Files Commission.

In September, Mladenov ordered a group of Ambassadors to return to Sofia on business trips for an indefinite period that could well last until their terms in office expired or their successors were appointed.

The Foreign Minister based his actions on the amended Diplomatic Service Act which allowed him to resort to such measures if the Ambassadors' terms in office were about to expire.

In end-November, however, the Constitutional Court revoked the amendments to the Diplomatic Service Act banning former State Security agents from taking up key diplomatic positions.

Sunday Bulgaria's deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Dimitrov said that the Ministry will appeal the Supreme Administrative Court decision.

"We see this as a purely legal dispute which we think we are going to win with additional arguments at the second instance court," said Dimitrov.

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