Bulgarian Socialists Query Minister’s Ukraine Visit

Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin’s trip to Ukraine on Tuesday has sparked controversy among MPs, with MPs from the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms expressing shock.

The MPs said they did not understand whether it was Bulgaria’s position or his own stance on the Ukrainian crisis that the minister was representing.

Yanko Yankov, Socialist chair of the Defence Committee in parliament and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Vigenin’s meetings with the new leadership in Kiev appeared to confirm their legitimacy in the eyes of Bulgaria.

Yankov said that, prior to such moves, Bulgaria’s national position must be stated, which the Foreign Ministry cannot unilaterally undertake.

Russia had a monopoly on the Bulgarian energy market and the country had accords with Russia that needed to be taken into consideration, Yankov said.

Strahil Angelov, a Socialist MP who angered parliament with a trip to meet the Syrian leadership allegedly unauthorized by the Socialists, also condemned Vigenin’s visit, saying it could have serious repercussions for Bulgaria.

He said that Vigenin’s actions implied Bulgaria had taken action in areas where “bigger and stronger states than ours keep silent”.

 Ukraine’s interim President, Oleksandr Turchynov, and the presidential election candidate Vitali Klitschko were among the prominent politicians that Vigenin met in Ukraine.

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