Bulgarian president refuses to meet Montenegrin PM after short wait

3 months ago 23

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who on Tuesday was invited to meet Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, waited four minutes for his host to show up and left before the meeting took place.

After waiting for the host, Radev and his delegation left the premises where he was set to meet Spajić.

“It is only natural for the head of state to refuse a meeting for which the host is not ready,” the Bulgarian presidency said on Tuesday.

Radev arrived in Montenegro on Sunday for an official visit at the invitation of his counterpart, Jakov Milatović. On Monday, he and his wife, Desislava Radeva, were welcomed by President Milatović and his wife, Milena Milatović, in an official ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Cetinje, the historical and cultural capital of Montenegro.

A few hours later, Radev was due to meet Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.

The incident was first reported by the Montenegrin newspaper Viesti, which cited the Montenegrin government, and confirmed by the Bulgarian presidency on Tuesday after an inquiry by Bulgarian media.

The meeting with Spajić was scheduled for 5 pm on Monday in the reception hall of the Montenegrin government, Viesti reported, quoted by Bulgarian state agency BTA.

However, before his planned meeting with Radev, Spajić was in a conversation with Germany’s largest tour operator, TUI, which lasted three minutes longer than planned, and Radev’s delegation left the building after a four-minute wait, the Montenegrin government told Viesti.

The reason for the delay was that the hall had to be prepared for the new meeting.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)