For many years, Bulgaria’s position in foreign policy has been clear, but in the last moments, before an important vote, everyone is worried that the situation could change. And all this, due to the pressure of a friend of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. This is exactly what the acting prime minister of Bulgaria, Dimitar Glavchev, is being accused of after the leak of some diplomatic documents? What is it about?
Glavchev, Borisov, Vucic, Srebrenica. These four names have been circulating in the media for the past few days and have raised many questions.
Bulgaria’s acting prime minister, Dimitar Glavchev, has been accused of trying to pressure Bulgaria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Lachezara Stoeva, to change the country’s position in favor of Serbia ahead of an important vote. .
According to the research platform, BIRD.bg, something like this happened after the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučiqm, lobbied the leader of the GERB party, Boyko Borisov
The case had to do with the resolution that declared July 11 the International Day of Remembrance of the Genocide in Srebrenica.
On that day in 1995, some 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by ethnic Bosnian Serb forces in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
Their murder has been recognized as genocide by the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Court of Justice, which operates within the framework of the United Nations.
Bulgaria’s policy is also in line with that of the UN, as it recognizes this crime as genocide.
However, the platform BIRD.org has published on Wednesday some diplomatic documents, according to which, in the last moments, the acting Prime Minister, Glavchev, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, instructed the permanent representative of Bulgaria to the UN, to change the state’s position and abstain from the resolution.
Long before the voting day, Serbia declared against the resolution and started a campaign, which was also supported by Russia.
Serbian President Vucic, who maintains strong ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, often takes pro-Russian stances. Therefore, the Kremlin has supported the efforts of the Serbian leader against the recognition of the genocide in Srebrenica.
Both countries often vote in line at the UN, along with other countries such as: North Korea, Syria, Nicaragua and other countries.
The Bulgarian leader, Glavchev, has long been the deputy chairman of GERB, whose leader, Boyko Borisov, has worked closely with the Serbian president, Vucic.
After the vote at the UN, Vučić himself admitted that he was surprised by Bulgaria’s attitude and expected that this country would not support the resolution.
His reaction was followed by the Bulgarian political alliance “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria”, which saw Glavchev’s action to “support the pro-Russian foreign policy at the UN” as “completely unacceptable”.
For more than 24 hours, no one – including Gllavečev himself and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – have denied the authenticity of the documents published by the BIRD platform.
Radio Free Europe has sent questions to the institutions involved, but has not received an answer.
How did it all start?
On May 22, the daily Dnevnik published a material, in which it was said that Serbia is trying to influence Bulgaria’s position through unofficial channels, regarding the vote on the genocide in Srebrenica.
Later that day, the diplomat of the Bulgarian alliance “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria”, and also a candidate for the European Parliament, Stefan Tafrov, said in a post on Facebook that he learned that Serbia is trying to change the Bulgarian position and insisted that “Glavchev should not kneel before Serbian pressure”.
The Bulgarian government has not publicly responded to these calls.
How was the voting process developed?
Two days later, on May 24, the United Nations General Assembly approved the resolution declaring July 11 as a day to commemorate the genocide in Srebrenica.
Bulgaria’s permanent representative to the UN, Lachezara Stoeva, voted in favor of the resolution.
The resolution was initiated by Germany and Rwanda, and Bulgaria was among the 32 co-author countries.
The approved version does not mention the perpetrators of the genocide – the Bosnian Serb forces under the leadership of General Ratko Mladic and the political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic.
However, the resolution condemns “any denial of the genocide in Srebrenica as a historical event” as well as “actions that glorify those who have been convicted by international courts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including those responsible for the genocide in Srebrenica”.
The British broadcaster BBC has said through an article that one of the reasons for the adoption of the resolution is the continuous denial of historical facts related to the genocide by Serbian nationalists.
The current Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, has called the massacre in Srebrenica a “terrible crime”, however, neither he nor his country recognize the act as genocide.
Other Serbian politicians, such as the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, have denied over the years that what happened in Srebrenica was genocide.
However, on May 24, 84 out of 193 member countries voted in favor of the resolution, 19 were against and 68 abstained.
After the approval, Vucic made a statement about the Bulgarian position.
“I was hoping for a surprise from Bulgaria. Five minutes before the meeting, I was convinced that Bulgaria would abstain”, said the Serbian president.
What is said in the diplomatic documents that are circulating?
On Wednesday, the BIRD platform published several diplomatic documents, in which it becomes clear that there have been attempts to change Bulgaria’s position in favor of Serbian interests.
One of the documents is the one that the acting Prime Minister, Dimitar Glavchev sent to the representative of Bulgaria at the UN, Lachezara Stoeva, on May 23, just one day before the vote.
In it, he instructed Stoeva to use abstention, contrary to Sofia’s policy until now.
Glavchev has justified the change of position with the same arguments that Serbia and Russia have used to not support the resolution – that the moment is not suitable, due to the “tense situation” in the world and in the Western Balkans.
In the second document published by BIRD is Stoeva’s response.
In it, she has indicated that she will remain loyal to her initial opinions and will vote to approve the resolution.
She also clearly states that Gllavčev’s request seems to be the result of “external pressure”.
“The change of position, taking into account the circumstances raised [the text of the resolution has been softened and balanced] is an extreme act that can only be justified by external pressure and that can cause great damage to Bulgaria’s image on the international scene” , the document said.
Stoeva has also said that such an attitude is contrary to Euro-Atlantic values.
“Taking into account the fact that Serbia and the Russian Federation have continuously lobbied against the resolution, the only possible conclusion that the international factor can draw is that our position has changed as a result of pressure from Serbia or the Russian Federation, especially due to the fact that the reasons for took the position of abstention, are a repetition of the arguments of the Russian Federation and Serbia”, the letter said, among other things.
Political reactions
The BIRD platform has expressed its conviction that this case has nothing to do with Gllavčev’s initiative, but with the instructions given to him by the former head of the GERB party, Boyko Borisov.
Borisov, who has been Bulgaria’s prime minister for three years, has developed close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The two have cooperated closely on the TurkStream project, thanks to which Russia – via Ukraine – now supplies Central and Eastern Europe with natural gas.
For this reason, the project has been criticized as something that has served Russian interests.
After the leak of documents and accusations against Glavchev, the “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria” alliance also reacted on Wednesday afternoon.
The alliance has said that it is the duty of the acting prime minister to provide a public explanation for “impermissible attempts to change the Bulgarian position” on Srebrenica and to support “pro-Russian foreign policy”.
“Glavcev’s act is another proof that GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms are Euro-Atlantic parties only in words, but in deeds they serve the Putin regime, as has happened more than once in the last 15 years when gas pipelines were built and gas contracts were signed”, said the alliance, “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria”.
The diplomat of the Movement for Rights and Freedom, Stefan Tafrov, said that “if Glavchev really did this, I insist that he immediately offer his resignation”.
Until now, Glavchev, as well as other high political figures, have not commented on this case.
Radio Europe and the Cure has sent a request for comment to the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Bulgarian mission to the UN, but has not received a response until the publication of this material. /REL/