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Ex Bulgaria PM Top Runner for EU Envoy to Georgia - Report
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Filip Dimitrov, former chair of the Union of Democratic Forces, former Bulgarian PM and ex-envoy to the UN and USA. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency.
Filip Dimitrov, former Bulgarian PM, rightist leader and senior diplomat, is among the top names circulated for the position of EU ambassador to Georgia, as foreign affairs high representative Catherine Ashton is expected to announce names of top envoys next week.
Georgia is among the countries considered as top-priority for the EU, for which ambassadors will be revealed earlier than the rest of the new EU External Action Service, expected by December 1.
It has been made known that Bulgaria has submitted at least two promising candidacies – that of Dimitrov and of diplomat Stefan Tafrov, who has also served as Bulgaria's UN envoy, as well as ambassador to the UK, France and Italy and as deputy foreign minister.
Filip Dimitrov, a lawyer by profession, chaired 1990-1994 the Union of Democratic Forces, the main rightist political movement in Bulgaria in the 90s. 1991-2 he was Bulgaria's first rightist PM after the transition. 1997-8 Dimitrov was Bulgaria's envoy to the UN, and then 1998-2001 he served as the country's ambassador to the US.
Throughout August, Bulgarian media have been reporting that Dimitrov has better chances over Tafrov and has made a "brilliant" showing in interviews.
Wednesday Euobserver.com reported that Ashton has five top choices for the Tbilisi position, including Dimitrov. The rest are John Kjaer, a Danish-origin European Commission official in charge of the body's policy for post-Soviet countries; Eric Fournier, the current French ambassador to Georgia; Normunds Popens, Latvia's ambassador to the EU; and Wojciech Zajaczkowski, Poland's ambassador to Romania.
End of last week Euractiv reported that Poland has diminished chances to get the position after backing off from unconditional support to Georgia and warming up to Russia.
EUobserver reports that French Fournier seems to be Ashton's favorite because of his key role in mediation during the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia.
On the other hand, sources have reported that the EU would want a representative who comes from a Black Sea region country – a requirement that Dimitrov satisfies.
Georgians on their part are likely to prefer a person with stronger influence in the EU to secure the country a good position in the integration process.
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