An unannounced trip by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and Chief of Staff Lena Borislavova in Thessaloniki on Friday night shifted the focus from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit and sparked a new wave of speculation.
Petkov and Borislavova’s visit to Thessaloniki was revealed from leaked photos on the Internet, which clearly show the two having dinner at a restaurant with a third person who was later recognized – our ambassador to Greece Valentin Poryazov.
As the government’s press office did not announce the visit and dinner in advance, bets have been circulating for hours on what the government Airbus plane flew to Thessaloniki on Friday night and how it was about to land in Sofia after the German chancellor’s arrival.
The Prime Minister was on board the plane and was traveling for a meeting of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, initiated by Bulgaria since 1996, the government’s press service explained, quoted by 24 Chasa. Due to commitments in Sofia, however, the Prime Minister was unable to arrive for the meeting itself, but joined the dinner of the prime ministers and presidents of the Balkans, the newspaper writes.
It was attended by his counterparts from Albania and Northern Macedonia, Edi Rama and Dimitar Kovacevski, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Serbian President Alexander Vucic and representatives from all other countries in the initiative, the Council of Ministers stressed. The talks in Thessaloniki were also attended by European Council President Charles Michel and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He himself mentioned the meeting when he arrived in Sofia.
Lena Borislavova commented on the visit to Thessaloniki today, explaining in detail why she flew with Petkov. “It was a regional event with all regional leaders, with Olaf Scholz and Charles Michel. A regional forum was being held. The other plane, which is smaller, could have been used in another way, but it was used by President Rumen Radev. The other option was to travel 8 hours by car while the country is in crisis, and use that time for something else, “Borislavova said.
Shortly after her speech, however, the Afera website released photos from the dinner after the official meeting in Thessaloniki and the mess became complete because the leaders of Greece, Germany and Northern Macedonia were present, but Kiril Petkov was absent.
The site also posted a link to Vucic’s profile, which was photographed with everyone else, but not with the Bulgarian prime minister.
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