Bulgaria Recalls Ambassador To Thailand Over Sex Scandal

[JLester]

Kamen Velichkov

Bulgaria Recalls Ambassador to Thailand over Sex Scandal

Sofia News Agency

June 10, 2010, Thursday

Bulgaria's Ambassador to Thailand, Kamen Velichkov, will be recalled the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Vesela Cherneva, announced Thursday.

Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, had already issued an order to begin the procedure for Velichkov's recall, which must be approved by the Council of Ministers and the President.

Cherneva failed to specify the reason for the recall, only saying it involves numerous ethical violations.

Media, however, connect Velichkov's name with a scandal, stemming from a sexual harassment complaint against him, logged by Bulgaria's former Consul to Thailand, Krasimira Trifonova.

Velichkov has had a long diplomatic career; he had been a foreign policy advisor to President, Zhelyu Zhelev, and Ambassador to the Netherlands.

Bulgaria Recalls Ambassador to Thailand over Sex Scandal: Bulgaria Recalls Ambassador to Thailand over Sex Scandal - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency

[JLester]

Bulgaria recalls its ambassador in Thailand over wrongdoing

FOCUS News Agency

23 minutes ago

Sofia. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov has signed a decree recalling Bulgarian ambassador in Thailand Kamen Velichkov over disciplinary wrongdoing. The document has to be approved by the Council of Ministers and President, Bulgarian National Radio reports.

Kamen Velichkov is accused of sexual harassment by one of his subordinates in the embassy.

She submitted a complaint in the Commission for Protection against Discrimination, which is to announce its decision within a month.

The Bulgarian foreign ministry refused to comment whether this is the main reason for recalling the ambassador.

"Among the disciplinary wrongdoing no discrimination has been established, because the Foreign Ministry is not the body to register such type of offence. The disciplinary wrongdoing in question has to do with his duties as a head of the mission," said Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Vesela Cherneva.

This would be the third recalled ambassador since the government of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria came into power.

The former foreign minister Rumyana Zheleva dismissed the Bulgarian ambassadors in Turkey and the U.S., but the decisions were censured by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, who refused to sign the decrees.

FOCUS Information Agency