Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Head of State has not refused to appoint Bulgarian ambassador in Kiev, press ofice said

Rumen Radev
Photo: EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria's president has not refused to appoint a new ambassador to Ukraine, Rumen Radev's press service said. 

There was a proposal from the Denkov-Gabriel cabinet for an ambassador to Ukraine in October 2023, which the president had approved, but the presidential registry never received a decision from the Council of Ministers to issue Radev's decree on his appointment, the release said. The proposed ambassador was not Nikolai Nenchev, whom the caretaker government of Dimitar Glavchev wanted to send to Kiev, the presidential press service clarified. President Radev is said to have rejected the appointment of Nikolai Nenchev to the post in the summer of 2023.

The presidency specifies that in October 2023, foreign minister Mariya Gabriel proposed that the mission in Kyiv be headed by Petar Tanev, who was an advisor in the embassy. A decision was taken by the Council of Ministers, but it was not sent to the presidency for a presidential decree to be issued, as required by procedure.

Nikolay Nenchev
"An answer to the question of why the procedure for appointing the candidate proposed by the Foreign Ministry as Bulgaria's ambassador to Ukraine has not been completed should be sought from the ministry," the press release said.

"The whole affair is very sad. It is a symptom of weak statehood in the most difficult period after the Second World War in terms of security and international order," former Defence Minister Velizar Shalamanov told BNR. According to him, in this case personal relations predominate and there is a sharp confrontation between institutions on fundamental issues. "It is very likely that the person proposed for this coordination has proved unacceptable to the Ukrainian side," Shalamanov suggested. 

Former defence minister Nikolay Nenchev will temporarily head the Bulgarian embassy in Ukraine. The decision was taken by the caretaker government to end more than a year of stalemate between the Council of Ministers and President Rumen Radev over sending a diplomat to Kiev. The Bulgarian embassy has officially been without an ambassador since April 2023, BTA reported.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

GDP grows by 3.4% in 2024

In 2024, the gross domestic product of Bulgaria increased in real terms by 3.4% compared to the previous year, according to data by the National Statistical Institute, BTA reported. Gross national income at market prices last year..

published on 10/20/25 2:52 PM

European Public Prosecutor’s Office investigates fictitious mussel farm in the Black Sea

Suspicions of large-scale fraud with EU funds in a project to build a mussel farm in the Black Sea – southeast of Cape Emine in the municipality of Nessebar, have prompted an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office...

published on 10/20/25 1:59 PM

President of Hungary is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria

President Rumen Radev welcomed Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok in Smolyan. The guest visited the Bulgarian home of Hungarian poet, translator and artist László Nagy in the city in the Rhodopes. On October 20, the two presidents held..

published on 10/20/25 1:36 PM