THE BULGARIAN foreign ministry has dismissed as “speculation” media reports that its embassy in Dublin may close as part of attempts to restructure Bulgaria’s diplomatic service.
Reports have appeared in the Bulgarian media in recent weeks suggesting the government plans to shut 30 of its 114 overseas diplomatic missions.
One daily newspaper published a list of embassies it said were earmarked for closure.
These included missions in Ireland, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
The Bulgarian embassy is located on Burlington Road in Ballsbridge.
In a statement to The Irish Times, Bulgarian foreign ministry spokeswoman Vessela Tcherneva played down the reports.
“The Bulgarian ministry of foreign affairs is indeed undergoing a wide-reaching reform driven by the need to modernise and optimise the diplomatic service,” she said.
“However, no decision has yet been taken about the scope and the concrete targets of the optimisation efforts.
“While usually there is no comment on media publications, I can assure you that the information about an alleged decision to cut 30 embassies and, more concretely, the one in Dublin, is purely speculative.”
Earlier this year, Sweden announced it would shut its embassy in Dublin after more than 60 years as part of a reorienting of its foreign policy.
Its missions in Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Slovenia were also destined to be closed down.
At the time, Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt said that there was scope for developing “new forms for maintaining bilateral contacts” within the EU framework.
The embassy, on Harcourt Road, is due to close at the end of the month.
Sweden will retain an ambassador to Ireland but the position will be based at its foreign ministry in Stockholm.
In August last year, Ghana closed its embassy in Dublin due to pressures on the west African country’s national budget amid the global downturn.
Diplomatic relations with Ireland now fall under the remit of the Ghana High Commission in London.