Bulgaria at Trump’s Peace Council: Low-Level Representation & Legitimacy Concerns

Bulgaria’s Participation in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Sparks Domestic Political Fury

Bulgaria will be represented at the first meeting of Donald Trump’s “Council of Peace” in Washington, but at a lower level than initially anticipated. The Bulgarian delegation to the forum, scheduled for February 19th, will be led by Ivan Naydenov, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The outgoing cabinet decided to include General Director for Political Affairs Konstantin Dimitrov and Stefka Yovcheva, Chargé d’Affaires of the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, in the delegation, reportedly at its last session before resigning.

The Bulgarian delegation is expected to participate in the meeting as a participating state without the right to vote, in accordance with the organization’s charter.

Bulgaria and Hungary are the only two EU member states that participated in initiating the controversial initiative by President Donald Trump. However, the decision by the outgoing cabinet to join the initiative requires ratification by the Bulgarian Parliament, a step that was not taken.

“We are Bringing Shame!”

“Bulgaria started in the worst possible way with its application for membership in the Peace Council,” commented Milen Keremedchiev, a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“The Prime Minister’s signature is invalid because there is no, and there will likely not be in the coming days, subsequent ratification. Our membership there cannot be legitimate,” Keremedchiev believes.

According to Keremedchiev, Bulgaria has embarrassed itself before the US administration by signing a document without legal validity. He noted a significant difference between being a founding member and an observer in the organization.

“Bulgaria is not officially sitting at the table at the moment. The signatures that have been placed are illegitimate. Rather, we have the function of an observer with signed functions as a founder,” Keremedchiev explained to the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

“We are now reaping the shame from this action. After all the fanfares and formalities that accompanied our signature, it turned out that We see actually invalid,” he added.

“Bulgaria took the wrong steps in this mess.”

Keremedchiev further stated that Trump is “doing everything possible to circumvent international organizations,” and that he “shows that he would like to impose peace on his own terms or with limited support. It is right for European leaders and institutions to closely monitor these actions, as parallel centers of influence and decision-making are being created.”

How Did This Happen?

Last week, the outgoing cabinet declassified the decision to join the Peace Council, but left the “hot potato” to the caretaker government. The decision was shrouded in secrecy until recently, and it remained unclear when and how Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov was authorized to join the controversial initiative by US President Donald Trump, also known as “UN 2,” which was rejected by the EU.

The published decision revealed that Zhelyazkov was authorized to sign the organization’s charter and simultaneously notify the US that it would not be applying it for the time being.

For the Council of Ministers’ decision to take effect, it must be ratified by the National Assembly, but the outgoing cabinet refused to submit it to Parliament.

Radan Kanev, a Member of the European Parliament from “We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria,” revealed that Manfred Weber, Chairman of the European People’s Party and a Member of the European Parliament, announced during a meeting of the EPP group in the European Parliament that Boyko Borissov, leader of GERB, had told him that Bulgaria would not ratify Zhelyazkov’s signed “Charter of the Peace Council.”

Kanev quoted Weber as saying that “regarding the situation with Bulgaria: in Zagreb, Boyko Borissov gave us an explanation that some special issues between the US and Bulgaria necessitated this action, but the Charter will not be ratified.”