Bulgarian Ambassador Blasts His Bosses Accuses His Government Of Intentionally Wrecking Economy

In a rare diplomatic breach, Bulgaria’s U.N. ambassador publicly accused his own government Thursday of intentionally ruining the Bulgarian economy to “enslave millions of Bulgarians.”

Ambassador Slavi Pashovski said in an open letter to his government that the Bulgarian economic crisis was “a premeditated plot to make certain people richer and enslave millions of Bulgarian citizens.”

“We remained silent for too long and you went too far,” Pashovski said in the letter, which he read to reporters. “The ghost of communism is looming over Bulgaria, which means also over the Balkans and over Europe.”

Pashovski’s comments reflect the political tension in Bulgaria between President Zhelyu Zhelev, a former anti-Communist dissident, and Premier Zhan Videnov, leader of former Communists who won a solid majority in parliament during the 1994 elections.

Political tensions and government mismanagement have plunged Bulgaria into a severe economic crisis, which has seen the monthly inflation rate soar above 20 percent and the national currency plummet.

These problems have also left the Bulgarian diplomatic service in chaos. Pashovski said Bulgarian ambassadors who were out of favor with the current government had been subjected to threats and intimidation.

Last year, he said, he discovered someone had tampered with the steering wheel of his car.

For a second straight year, the Bulgarian government has taken the unprecedented step of leaving its own United Nations ambassador off the country’s official delegation to the annual General Assembly session.

“I can tell you, it was almost war,” he said of the tensions in the Bulgarian delegation during last year’s session, which marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.