Hungary supports Bulgaria’s nomination of Georgieva to be UN Secretary-General
Hungary supports Bulgaria’s nomination of Kristalina Georgieva for the post of United Nations Secretary-General, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said in a letter to his counterpart in Sofia, Boiko Borissov.
The letter was made public by the Bulgarian government on September 30, two days after Borissov’s Cabinet withdrew its support from the candidacy of Irina Bokova and transferred it to Georgieva, a senior member of the European Commission.
Orban said that in the history of the UN, it had not been headed by someone from Eastern Europe.
“This year we have the historic chance to change that. On the other hand, to achieve our goal we obviously must put forward the candidate who is most prepared,” Orban said.
He said that on the basis of Georgieva’s qualifications and professional experience, Georgieva was suited for the post and had earned the trust of the countries of the UN Security Council.
Hungary is the second EU country to openly express support for Georgieva. On September 28, Latvia’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said in a Twitter message: “Full support to the decision by Bulgarian government to nominate @KGeorgievaEU for UN top job, she is an excellent candidate”.
The UN has posted online the letter from the Bulgarian government advising that Georgieva was its “sole and unique” candidate, praising her qualities and including a detailed CV.
Bokova, nominated by Bulgaria in February 2016 under pressure from a minority socialist party that when was part of the governing coalition, has said that she is not withdrawing from the race.
Meanwhile, French news agency AFP reported that Russia and three other Security Council members had queried Bulgaria about Georgieva’s nomination, with the agency reporting that “UN officials suggested that Russia’s objections were a possible indication that Moscow was unenthusiastic about Georgieva’s bid to become the first woman to lead the United Nations”.
