Bulgarian 'First Lady' Snubs Husband's US Visit

Bulgaria's "First Lady," Yuliyana Plevnelieva, is not going to accompany her husband during his first official visit to the US as President later in May.

Speaking for the talk show "Let them Talk" of the largest private TV channel bTV, President, Rosen Plevneliev, himself, announced the news, saying he would be accompanied by Defense Minister, Anyu Angelov, instead. He downplayed the information, stressing that given the nature of the trip it would be way more important to have the Minister on his side.

The two will travel to Chicago on May 20th for the NATO summit. While there they will also meet with the Bulgarian community in the city, which is the largest Bulgarian diaspora in North America.

Plevneliev leaves for the US as early as May 15 since he further has scheduled meetings with Bill Gates, and visits of the Sysco and NASA headquarters.

Plevnelieva made headline news when she did not show up at January 22 inauguration ceremony of her husband. Her reluctance to make public appearances has raised eyebrows, as her opponents have accused her of negligence towards protocol rules and the representative function of the Head of State, but others have defended her right of choice.

It also emerged in the aftermath that she harbors a dislike for Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and his ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, after media dug some of her postings on Twitter such as "We do not need a Boykometer, we need a Boyko-launcher," and "Dozens of stray dogs are happily barking...they are celebrating Fandakova's victory (in the Sofia mayoral race)."

According to an article in Standart daily, Plevnelieva continues to refuse to comply with the National Security Services, NSO, and with her new status.

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