Position of the Spokesperson of the MFA on media publications undermining the credibility of the Diplomatic Service
02 July 2014 News
In relation to media publications and comments of representatives of political forces regarding ‘outrageous’ appointments in the MFA, we state that the quoted orders of the Foreign Minister are part of a routine procedure for the reappointment of employees in the MFA in Sofia whose overseas mandate ends this year. This is a normal diplomatic practice applied in the Diplomatic Services of all countries regardless of the political conjecture. Thus, we would like to call on all to refrain from making the foreign policy of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian diplomacy a subject of political speculations and fictional media scandals. What is more, those officials, whose term ends in 2014, were sent to work in the diplomatic missions of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad by the government of the political party GERB.
New now is that sending employees on overseas mandate and reappointing the returning employees, is carried out in a transparent and competitive way in accordance with the professional qualification of each and every candidate. Applications are reviewed by career committee composed of professional diplomats, and then the decisions are approved by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The actual normative documents, regulating the procedure, were also the subject of open public discussion. This approach is the result of the commitment of Minister Kristian Vigenin for open governance, professionalism and predictability of the career development of each employee. In the name of full transparency of the work of the Ministry’s leadership, employees have full access to all final decisions.