Ivaylo Kalfin
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Ivaylo Georgiev Kalfin (Bulgarian: Ивайло Георгиев Калфин) (born 30 May 1964) is a Bulgarian politician, a three-term deputy and current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Deputy Prime Minister since 2005.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Sofia, Kalfin received his higher education in the University of National and World Economy (1983-1988) and the Loughborough University (1998-1999). He speaks English, French, Russian and Spanish. He is married and has a daughter.
Kalfin founded the Social Democrats National Movement and served as the deputy president of the Common Parliamentary Committee Bulgaria-European Union between 1995 and 1998. A deputy in the 37th (1994-1997), 38th (2000-2001) and 40th (since 2005) National Assembly of Bulgaria, Kalfin is part of the Bulgarian National Bank's Consultative Council since 2004. He observed the elections in Kosovo in 2001 and 2004 as part of OSCE missions in the region and has also worked as a senior university lecturer and manager in several consulting companies.
Between 2002 and 2005, he was also an economic advisor the President of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov. He became the Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Deputy Prime Minister in 2005.
[edit] Relations with the Republic of Macedonia
On 24 July 2006, at the opening of a working conference with the heads of Bulgarian embassies and consulates abroad, Kalfin became the first Bulgarian Foreign Minister to publicly voice his opinion against the mininterpretation and misappropriation of the Bulgarian history by the Republic of Macedonia, saying that:[1], [2]
| We have declared our support for [the Republic of] Macedonia's [EU] membership. But I have to say immediately that it would not be normal for this support to be unconditional. There are criteria that have to be fulfilled. We would particularly much insist on the observance of the principles of good-neighbour relations and the lack of aggression towards the Bulgarian nation or history on behalf of the Macedonian authorities. |
On 28 July 2006 Kalfin appealed to the Skopje authorities to replace the director of the Macedonian cultural and informational centre in Sofia Stefan Vlahov-Mitsov:[3]
| The Macedonian authorities should clearly prove that it is inadmissible for an official of a diplomatic representation abroad to participate in that country's political life. |
His statement was provoked by Mitsov's alleged participation in the management of UMO Ilinden-Pirin, a controversial party largely regarded as Macedonist and anti-Bulgarian by the Bulgarian public.
