Tussle between Bulgaria’s President and caretaker government over envoy in Kyiv
Former Defence Minister Nikolai Nenchev has been appointed as chargé d’affaires of Bulgaria’s embassy in Kyiv, skirting head of state President Roumen Radev’s refusal to decree Nenchev’s appointment as ambassador.
Nenchev’s appointment as acting head of Bulgaria’s embassy to Ukraine was confirmed on July 23 by Dimitar Glavchev, caretaker holder of the posts of Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
Glavchev said that the appointment of a chargé d’affaires did not require a presidential decree and all the proper procedures had been followed.
“We continue to we are also discussing candidacies to appoint one who, according to the constitution, must be sent by decree of President Radev, but in this case there is absolutely no violation of any rules,” Glavchev said.
Radev, in a strongly-worded statement, said that at the time of the Denkov government (which was in office from June 2023 to April 2024) he had been “persistently offered” to appoint Nenchev as Bulgarian ambassador to Ukraine.
“I categorically refused, as the candidate in question does not possess the necessary professional qualities and training for this important post,” Radev said.
Radev said that the Foreign Ministry had decided to appoint Nenchev as chargé d’affaires, instead of proposing a candidate ambassador.
According to Radev “This is an unjustified lowering of the level of diplomatic representation and a gross circumvention of the constitution and the established order for the appointment of heads of our foreign missions.
“I call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to strictly comply with the constitution and the established procedures for appointing the heads of Bulgarian embassies abroad. I expect the Cabinet to offer me a candidate for the position of ambassador to Ukraine with proven qualities and professional expertise,” Radev said.
Radev has a history of enmity towards Nenchev.
Radev was commander of the Bulgarian Air Force from 2014 to 2016, largely overlapping with Nenchev’s tenure, in the second Boiko Borissov government, as Defence Minister from November 2014 to July 2017.
As Defence Minister, Nenchev switched the contract for maintenance of the Bulgarian Air Force’s ageing MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia to Poland, a move that led to protests from the Kremlin and resulted in Nenchev being charged with malfeasance in office. Nenchev ultimately was acquitted.
Radev, speaking in July 2017, claimed that Nenchev had “crashed” the Air Force. Radev told reporters at the time that as Air Force commander, he had lodged an official report recommending that the MiG-29 engine overhaul business remain with Russia’s RSG MIG Corporation.
Bulgaria has had no ambassador in Kyiv since early 2022, when then-ambassador Kostadin Kozhabashev was withdrawn to serve as interim deputy foreign minister. In June 2023, Kozhabashev was appointed Bulgaria’s ambassador to the Holy See.
In October 2023, the Denkov government proposed to Radev to appoint Petar Tanev as ambassador to Ukraine, but nothing came of that.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visiting Sofia on July 6 2023, called for the appointment of an ambassador to Ukraine as soon as possible.
(Photo of Nenchev: Archive)
Please support The Sofia Globe’s independent journalism by becoming a subscriber to our page on Patreon:
