Kristalina Georgieva: A Major Blunder at the UN Narrowly Averted

This article was removed from the

On October 17, 2016, we posted an article by Yves Kugelmann titled, “A Major Blunder at the UN Narrowly Averted.” The article contained assertions about Bulgaria’s European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva. Upon investigation and further review, we do not stand behind the article and we retract it. It was removed from our website on October 25, 2016.Abstract:

At the UN Security Council in early October 2016, a last-minute push by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov succeeded in putting European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva on the ballot for the next Secretary-General. Though she lost the vote, Ms. Georgieva remained a Vice President of the European Commission, where she was responsible for the EU budget and its anti-fraud office.

Yet serious questions have been raised about her past in Soviet-era Bulgaria, as well as her alleged present family ties with a business conglomerate that U.S. diplomats in Sofia have described as 'once the doyen of Bulgarian organized crime'. These causes for concern were augmented by the result of a month-long investigation, conducted by the author and described in the paper.

The issues surrounding Georgieva speak to a broader problem: too often, both the United Nations and the European Union have appointed leadership figures without vetting them, let alone subjecting the process to public scrutiny. At a time of crisis throughout the globe, the credibility of these international bodies depends on reforming the selections process to include due diligence and transparency. Only thus can the peoples whom the candidates represent feel assured of their integrity — and, by extension, the integrity of the institutions they lead.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Portugal’s António Guterres to be new UN chief http://www.europeansources.info/record/portugals-antonio-guterres-to-be-new-un-chief/

EurActiv, 18.10.16: Journalistic investigation digs into Commissioner Georgieva’s past http://www.euractiv.com/section/public-affairs/news/journalistic-investigation-digs-into-commissioner-georgievas-past/

Politico, 20.10.16: Georgieva vows to sue alleged defamers http://www.politico.eu/article/kristalina-georgieva-vows-to-sue-alleged-defamers-character-assassination/

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