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The German airline Lufthansa created a huge scandal out of nothing with the child of the Bulgarian ambassador to the USA and former defense minister Georgi Panayotov.
The child is 12 years old and is coming home alone from the United States to Bulgaria on a flight via Frankfurt, and the parents have paid for an assistant to accompany the child to the flight to Sofia. Surprisingly, however, the airline refused the service at the last minute with the argument that "Bulgaria is part of the Russian Federation"!
Here is the text of Georgi Panayotov’s entire Facebook post about what happened:
“I am sending my son to Bulgaria for Christmas. He is flying with Lufthansa via Frankfurt to Sofia. I arrange an escort to pick him up from the arriving plane from Washington to Frankfurt and take him to the departing plane to Sofia, because Frankfurt airport is huge, Teo is 12 years old and has never traveled alone. The service is paid for and the company confirms. On the day of departure I was got a message that the service (assistance of a 12-year-old child) was cancelled.
The reason cited by Lufthansa is that BULGARIA IS PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION!!!
It's not a joke, but an actual case that got on my nerves and traumatized the child.
So much for German punctuality!
What happened to Lufthansa?!”
Under the post, a number of sharp reactions followed, and our ambassador in Washington specifies that his child is already flying and that the crew of the plane has pledged in good faith to cooperate
”That is, there are thinking people, but there is no thinking airline”, says Panayotov.
He also states that if the child does not receive assistance, he will guide him by phone on how to get to the flight to Sofia.
Comments on the subject below the publication of our ambassador were shared by two other of our former ministers of defense.
"This is for a case for large compensation! Not to mention that a demarche should also be made," wrote Dragomir Zakov and added - "That they just nailed Z on you. This is mental harassment."
Velizar Shalamanov, on the other hand, questioned the real reasons for Lufthansa to act in this way.
"And maybe it's not a mistake, it's just that business is more direct... We just always have to look at all options to understand the situation. Let's hear Lufthansa's explanation, and let us also know that we have to prove every day that we are not subject to the Kremlin, that we are an independent, free, sovereign European country in NATO - let's remind ourselves and make sure that the allies also know and understand it, and not write us off and wait for us to be clearer," he wrote.
Panayotov later thanked everyone for their sympathy. "As I wrote, the flight crew helped Teo get to the plane to Bulgaria and he is currently waiting to go home," he added.
The former minister described the airline's explanation as absurd and scandalous, but added that he had no intention of seeking compensation. “I will certainly ask for an explanation, though. I also thank you for the interest from the media, but in this case I prefer not to have media participation", Georgi Panayotov also pointed out.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the incident was due to illiteracy/semi-literacy/slackness. Which is very bad, but not dramatic, let alone tragic. I hope Teo takes it as a joke in life and I hope it doesn't happen to anyone," he wrote.
Our ambassador to the USA also addresses the people who "even in this case could not overcome malice, be it personal or political":
"Try to be good, be smart, no matter how hard it is, try to be sympathetic to those who are in trouble. And look beyond your nose. The world is big and interesting."
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