Bulgarian Stats Head to Become Eurostat Deputy Chair

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | December 30, 2011, Friday // 16:52
Bulgaria: Bulgarian Stats Head to Become Eurostat Deputy Chair NSI Chair Mariana Kotseva will become Deputy Chair of Eurostat in April 2012. Photo by dariknews.bg

Starting April 2012, Mariana Kotseva, head of the National Statistical Institute (NSI), will become Deputy Chair of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The announcement was made by Finance Minister Simeon Djankov on Friday during the last session of the Council of Ministers for 2011.

Djankov highlighted that she would be the Bulgarian with the highest office in the administration of the European Union.

The Finance Minister noted that Kotseva had been selected among seven other bids for the post.

Djankov drew attention to the fact that Kotseva's case proved that the GERB government had no habit of ousting professionals appointed by the previous Cabinet.

Kotseva filed her resignation in September 2010 amid criticism over the questionnaire prepared for the trial online census.

The questionnaire provided the following options for ethnic groups - Bulgarian, Turkish, Roma, and a 4th option listing ethnicities such as Bulgarian-Muslim, Macedonian, African-American, among others.

Kotseva explained these categories had been listed on the basis of the answers given by people during previous censuses, adding NSI had no intention and no authority to determine what ethnic groups lived in Bulgaria.

The move came on the heels of declarations issued by the nationalist VMRO party last week, demanding that the categories be removed from the questionnaire over fears they would divide the nation.

VMRO insisted that the "others" category had to be left blank, giving the respondents the opportunity to fill it themselves.

Prime Minister Borisov refused to comment on the matter and did not accept Kotseva's resignation

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Tags: Mariana Kotseva, National Statistical Institute, NSI, eurostat

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