Bulgaria's delay in submitting a candidate to take over as UN Secretary General could dash Eastern Europe's chances for the office, former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy has said.

A rule of geographic rotation suggests the next UN Secretary General should be from Eastern Europe. Several countries from the region have endorsed candidates, but Bulgaria has not done it yet. Reports have merged that, alongside UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, often pointed as a "frontrunner", EU Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva is also vying for the post.

"We have a unique chance - either Bulgaria [and its candidacy] could unite Eastern Europe... or we could bring it to a failure. At the moment Bulgaria and personally Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov risks failing the entire Eastern Europe in this candidacy."

Passy has said in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio that "Bulgaria not only can but also must [carry out a campaign to promote its candidate], and no-one except us could lead this campaign for us... In any campaign like this, speed is the main guarantee for success - the speed at which the candidacy will be promoted and at which the campaign will unfold. Delays guarantee failure."

He has insisted that if there is a key international issue in which Bulgaria could have a dominant role in 2016 it is the election of the next UN Secretary General.

Passy is now head of the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria and served as Foreign Minister between 2001 and 2005, at the time of Bulgaria's accession to NATO and key steps toward the EU.

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