Diplomats with involvement in the PRB’s services will no longer represent modern Bulgaria
15 December 2010 News
A statement by Minister Nickolay Mladenov
Bulgaria’s special panel, investigating the communist-era police and intelligence services’ files, known as the Files’ Commission, revealed that 45% of the examined heads of Bulgarian missions abroad have been collaborators and agents of the former Communist State Security.
Currently half of the Ambassadors of Republic of Bulgaria in the EU and NATO countries and in almost all Balkan states are linked to the repressive apparatus of the Communist regime.
On this occasion Minister Nickolay Mladenov stated: „Trust is the bargaining chip of diplomacy. If the economic growth of a country is measured by its GDP, and its infrastructure is assessed on the construction of highways, the diplomacy of the country is valued by the ability of our staff to maintain an open contact with the international partners. In this sense, these diplomats’ past casts a shadow over the Bulgarian state, over the entire diplomatic service and limits its options. I consider this to be unacceptable and we can not leave the diplomacy in paralysis. Bulgaria today needs the trust of its partners and allies.
In the future we can not afford to have such representatives in the world. Therefore, the government will propose amendments to the Law on Diplomatic Service to eliminate the possibility of diplomats engaged with the secret services of PRB to represent contemporary
Bulgaria”, Nickolay Mladenov announced. The first step of the Foreign Ministry would be to withdraw Senior Diplomats who have been sent at a mission abroad by an act of the Foreign Minister. Furthermore this government will be requesting from the President of the Republic for an early dismissal of Ambassadors and Permanent Representative who are in the Files’ Commission’s list.
Mladenov noted that consultations are taking place with all parliamentary parties to support the relevant amendments to the Law on Diplomatic Service. „This problem has not been solved for 20 years. I do not want to judge the qualities of individual employees, who have most likely been doing their jobs diligently over the years. However, 20 years later we must give the chance to a new generation to participate in the Foreign Policy of Bulgaria. Therefore, we will put forward proposals for amendments in the law in order to prevent sending collaborators or agents of the State Security to the highest diplomatic positions”, stated the Foreign Minister.
Of all 192 people exposed by the Files’ Commission, 88 are currently MFA’s employees. Of these 33 are Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives, 8 are temporarily governers and four of them are Consul-Generals.