site.btaBulgaria Nominates EU Commissioner Georgieva to Replace Bokova in Race for United Nations Chief

Bulgaria Nominates EU Commissioner Georgieva to Replace Bokova in Race for United Nations Chief

Sofia, September 28 (BTA) - The government Wednesday decided to nominate European Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva to replace Irina Bokova in the race for the post of United Nations Secretary-General, the government's Information Service said. The government entrusted the Foreign Ministry with the task to coordinate the campaign to enlist support for the new Bulgarian candidate.

In its reasoning for the replacement, the Council of Ministers wrote that, although Bokova had performed best amongst the other female candidates for the position, in the recent ballots she received a high number of discourage votes while the encourage ones were below the election minimum of nine. This necessitated opting for an alternative Bulgarian candidate who could join the competition at such a late stage and become a leading runner in the remaining short time, the reasoning goes.

The broad support Georgieva enjoys internationally and the contacts she has, open an opportunity to make a serious attempt to consolidate the Eastern European regional group, the reasoning says.

Georgieva will be heard at the Security Council in New York next week, MEP Andrei Kovachev (GERB/European People's Party) said. Kovachev also noted that in his capacity as a member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs responsible for relations with the UN he receives signals that Georgieva stands considerably higher chances to be elected than hitherto candidate Irina Bokova.

The Cabinet decision should make it clear for everyone that Bulgaria does not have two candidates for UN Secretary-General. Bulgaria stands behind the nomination of Kristalina Georgieva. There is no guarantee for anyone that she/he would be the next Secretary-General, Kovachev commented.

He said further that the "big" five countries with veto power in the Security Council will determine Ban Ki-moon's successor. Kovachev does not expect that Russia would impose a veto. According to him, the new Bulgarian nomination is positively received by his colleagues.

Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov

Speaking to reporters before the government meeting, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said that having seen the current Bulgarian nominee's sliding performance in the election procedure so far, and after consultations, "it became clear that the Bulgarian government must give a chance to a candidate with better chances of success and one who can give more strength to the Eastern European group to have its UN Secretary-General". "The rotation principle is extremely important and we will solicit support for our nominee," Mitov also said.

The Foreign Minister said there is not a procedure for withdrawing a candidate but after a government of a sovereign state has redirected its political support - this is the relevant nomination which will be reckoned with from now on, and which will be supported by the Bulgarian government. "We leave it to Ms Bokova to re-assess her participation in the race," Mitov said. Approached to comment Russia's possible reaction to the replacement, Mitov said that "not the European Commission but the European Council imposed sanctions on Russia".

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov for his part said that "we consider that this will be a more successful nomination". He wished good luck to both Bokova and Georgieva and warned about "imminent heavy mud-slinging and lies against us", saying that "still, I consider the decision right".

President Rosen Plevneliev

In a position on the topic released by his press secretariat, President Rosen Plevneliev said that the competence and responsibility in announcing a Bulgarian candidacy to head the most prestigious world organization rests with the Bulgarian government. Plevneliev said further that the cabinet has analyzed the matter and assessed the chances of the possible Bulgarian candidates, and has duly familiarized the head of State. The President shares the government's reasoning.

"Nominating a new candidate is not a precedent in the international practice. What could prove detrimental to this country would be the inability to unite around the solutions that are important for Bulgaria and Europe," Plevneliev said.

Ruling Coalition

GERB, the main partner in the ruling coalition, believes Georgieva's qualities to be better than those of Bokova. GERB's parliamentary group fully backed the replacement decision.

GERB MP Djema Grozdanova said that if Bokova decides to remain in the
race, Bulgaria may end up with two runners for the post.

Dimiter Delchev, an MP from the Right-wing Reformist Bloc, another partner in the ruling coalition, said that for them Georgieva's candidacy is a good one, given the fact she is a Right-wing minded person, Vice President of the European Commission and an East European. "Georgieva's chances require
diplomatic negotiations, which we do not doubt, the government will undertake," Delchev said.

The Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, a partner in the Reformist Bloc, described the decision to replace the Bulgarian candidate as right.

Bulgarian Socialist Party

The opposition Left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) demanded a hearing in Parliament of Borissov and Mitov about Bokova's replacement.

BSP leader Kornelia Ninova described the replacement as "betrayal of Bulgaria and obeying foreign interests".

Movement for Rights and Freedoms

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Chairman and floor leader Mustafa Karadayi said that the replacement "harms Bulgaria's image and does not contribute at all to the success of a competition of this scale". Karadayi said that when a country has made a decision, it should do its best to implement it.

ABV Movement

The Left-wing ABV Movement are disappointed with the replacement decision, ABV floor leader Mariana Todorova said. ABV believes that the replacement puts under question Bulgaria's sovereignty, as well as the government, since "apparently, many foreign factors have prevailed". In Todorova's words, the new candidacy will achieve nothing. "Bulgaria acts in favour of another runner which is very demeaning. This shows a very weak position and a failure of the Bulgarian diplomacy," she said.

ABV Chairman and former Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov argued that "the most natural thing in the current situation is for the Foreign Minister to resign". Purvanov also said that Bokova's sliding performance is an assessment of Bulgaria's national diplomacy.

Purvanov asked whether what Europe wants, what the European People's Party wants, or Germany - who is not a member of the UN Security Council - should serve as a ground to change the candidate "mid-stream". "This shows that Bulgaria does not have sovereign diplomacy, and does whatever it is asked from the outside. "What is happening now is a humiliation on a global scale".

IMRO

Krassimir Karakachanov, leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, which is part of the Patriotic Front's parliamentary group, described the decision as "a grave foreign policy blunder". Karakachanov, who also runs for president in the November 6 elections, said that no one has done such a thing in the history of UN. "This will torpedo Bulgaria's opportunity of having a runner for the post. The insistence on replacing the Bulgarian candidate came from external forces," he said, adding that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has put forward the argument that a candidate from the European People's Party should be nominated.

BTA Special Correspondent Nikolay Zheliazkov has contributed to this story.