Bulgarian PM, Foreign Minister Clash over Ambassador Nominee

Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov confirmed Wednesday that Gen. Kircho Kirov, Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), will not be appointed Ambassador, which directly contradicts earlier claims by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

One week ago, Borisov announced that Kirov, who has already spent 9 years at the helm of NIS, will be removed from the post and will be nominated as an Ambassador.

Mladenov subsequently dismissed such a scenario, saying that the head of an intelligence service could not be dispatched Ambassador, especially if he had been part of the communist-era State Security (DS).

The Prime Minsiter has not renounced his plans to make the former officer of the First Main Department of State Security a top diplomat.

"I thank him for his remarks, which were at times critical. I could not comment on the situation which arose after the Prime Minister shared his views about my future. It will be a decision of Prime Minister Borisov and Minister Mladenov. I interpret his reaction in broader terms," Kirov said in an interview for Presa daily.

NIS chief Gen. Kircho Kiro received a negative mention in a Wikileaks cable dated January 25, 2007 sent by US Ambassador John Beyrle, which was published in Bulgaria on October 26.

Borisov's ambition to make Kirov an Ambassador clashes with his pledges to remove all Ambassadors with DS records and with the efforts of Mladenov to implement the lustration agenda.

The GERB government is now drafting a nomination package for new Ambassadors which is to be approved after President-Elect Rosen Plevneliev assumes office on January 22.

Plevneliev, who won the end-October presidential elections on the ticket of GERB, has vowed to sign the recall papers of the diplomats with proven ties to DS on his first day in office.

In his Wednesday statement, Mladenov told journalists that the debates on the new diplomats had reached an advanced stage but refused to disclose details.

According to unconfirmed reports cited by news portal mediapool, the new nominees for the post have proved a highly contentious point both within GERB and in GERB's relations with the Foreign Ministry.

The Foreign Ministry has declared that the appointment procedure would not be changed and the nominees and the coordination and approval process will not be made public until the presidential decrees for their appointment are issued.

According to mediapool.bg, the GERB Cabinet will have to appoint over 50 new Ambassadors who will replace the ones recalled over their ties to DS and those whose terms in office expire.

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