National Assembly Passes Amendments to the Law on Diplomatic Service
14 July 2011 NewsNickolay Mladenov: The accepted changes are an important step, in the process of modernization the Bulgarian diplomacy
"For the first time, the amendments to this law, give a precise definition of the diplomatic service," said Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov in presenting the bill to the Parliament. In the proposed amendments, are set out three main priorities - protecting national interests, the interests of Bulgarian citizens and the interests of Bulgarians abroad. "The Bulgarian diplomats are afraid to stand up for the Bulgarian citizens and companies abroad. I want Bulgarian diplomats to not be ashamed to do things their foreign counterparts don’t think about, "said Mladenov. With the adopted amendments to the Law on Diplomatic Service has been put an end to the practice, to appoint Bulgarian citizens, belonging to the former State Security, to senior positions in the office. "Over the past 20 years, the percentage of people associated with the former secret services, who represented our country, has increased rather than decreased. We can not allow these dependent people to continue to manage the system. At the same time, these texts are not lustration, they don’t take away rights ", said Nickolay Mladenov.
With the changes in the law, have been clearly defined the functions of the Permanent Secretary, has been created a new administrative structure, matching the highest standards, through the formation of general directorates and an open and transparent system of career development and opportunities for growth, based on competence and professionalism.