The Serbian government has officially proposed that the former post director Zoran Djordjevic be sent as the country's new ambassador to Bulgaria.
The local television N1 specified that "Belgrade has already requested an agreement and a response from Bulgaria is awaited". In August last year, Serbia asked for Slovenia's consent to appoint Djordjevic as the country's ambassador, but the authorities in Ljubljana refused to grant the agreement. "Slovenia refused to formally consent to the appointment of Zoran Djordjevic as ambassador due to security reasons," wrote the Ljubljana-based Delo newspaper at the time. The publication emphasized that "it was not possible to get official information about the problem with Djordjevic's refusal to receive an agreement". The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia does not comment on the procedure for issuing an agreement to the heads of diplomatic missions in Ljubljana, the publication clarified.
In February of this year, Djordjevic himself said that "he was not refused an agreement, but simply that the procedure continues and he expects the issue to be resolved." At the time, he also stated that "some ambassadors are waiting for an agreement between six months and a year and that he expects a positive outcome on the matter, because he does not see any obstacles to his appointment".
From 2012 to 2016, 54-year-old Djordjevic was the Minister of Defense. From June 29, 2017 to October 28, 2020, he was the Minister of Labor and Social Policy. In March 2012, he was appointed Director of Posts in Serbia. According to the Crick investigative website, Zoran Djordjevic was "the owner of the mysterious offshore company Telekraft, which worked for Telecom-Serbia". He is a member of the Serbian Progressive Party of President Aleksandar Vucic.
BGNES reminds that according to Art. 4 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the sending country should make sure that the receiving country has given consent (agreman) to the person it intends to accredit as the head of its representation in the receiving country. The request for agreement is sent to the relevant diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad or to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria by the relevant diplomatic or consular representation of the sending country in the Republic of Bulgaria. The request should be accompanied by a biographical reference of the person for whom an agreement is requested.
The sending party is notified of the consent (agreement) with a note through a diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad or from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria to the relevant foreign diplomatic or consular representation in the country, or if there is none, directly to the foreign policy department of the sending country. I BGNES
