PRESS CONFERENCE BY MISSION OF BULGARIA

19 September 1996

Press Briefing

19960919 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

The decision not to include him in the official Bulgarian delegation to the United Nations had brought to the attention of the international community the existing conflict with the President of Bulgaria regarding ambassadorial appointments, Slavi Pashovski, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Nations, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference. Reading a letter he had addressed to Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, he added that "the ghost of communism" was looming over Bulgaria, the Balkans and Europe.

Mr. Pashovski said the present conflict between the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry in Bulgaria was undermining the established constitutional order. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not satisfied with the provisions of the current Constitution, under which President Zheleyu Zhelev represented the country in international relations. It was unacceptable to the Ministry that the President appointed Ambassadors, in the face of Constitutional provisions which prevented him from taking the initiative to nominate potential ambassadors on his own.

The Permanent Representative said it was currently clear that economic failures in his country were not accidental, but a "premeditated plot to make certain people richer and to enslave millions of Bulgarian citizens". Control over foreign relations was decisive in that respect, he added; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was "plotting" to remove Bulgaria from the group of States that had "gotten rid of communism and were trying to consolidate their European identity once and for all". Furthermore, the traditional Bulgarian policy not to seek the establishment of any axis of power in the Balkans had been violated.

In this letter addressed to the three Foreign Affairs dignitaries, Mr. Pashovski also said: "You can immediately send a note to the United Nations Secretariat requesting the inclusion in the Bulgarian delegation of the duly accredited Permanent Representative to the Organization". Failure to do so would be outside of the law and the Constitution, he added.

Responding to questions, Mr. Pashovski said he had conferred with his President before making his public statement.

Would he remain Ambassador, or would he be removed from his post? a correspondent asked. Mr. Pashovski said the Ambassador was appointed by the President on the proposal by the Government. "Neither the Government nor the President have the full authority over the appointment", he said. The

candidature needed to be acceptable to both of them. "I am not concerned with my own situation, what I want is to see the balance established by the Constitution restored", he added.

Was the foreign policy in his country as divided as it seemed, between the President and the Prime Minister? another correspondent asked. Mr. Pashovski said there were some differences between them, especially with regard to joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to the policy in the Balkans.

Asked whether the Bulgarian Government recognized him as its Ambassador at the United Nations, Mr. Pashovski responded that the Government had the right only to propose and not appoint a new ambassador. The President was in charge of appointing. The President did not want to change him from his post.

Asked if the rumors that the rest of the delegations had attempted to stop the press conference were true, Mr. Pashovski said there had been no such problems; there was nothing wrong with informing the public and holding an open dialogue.

Asked if he expected any personal consequences as a result of his press conference, Mr. Pashovski said that the long history of political violence in his country needed to stop. A colleague of his in Albania with political views similar to his had his car stolen when he came back from vacation in Bulgaria. For that reason he was assigned a driver. Driving around the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, when there was no traffic or rain, the driver directed the car into an abyss and then jumped out of it. The Ambassador survived but without the help of the driver, who fled. "I want to prevent such scenarios, it is a tradition which needs a closure", he said.

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