Ashton condemns attack against Bulgarian Ambassador to Yemen

By Stanislava Gaydazhieva

May 14, 2012

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued a statement on 13 May, condemning the attack against the Bulgarian Ambassador to Yemen, Boris Borisov.

In the official announcement, Ashton criticized the kidnap attempt and expressed ‘the sincere solidarity of the European Union’.

Furthermore, the high representative called on the Yemeni authorities ‘to do their utmost to investigate the incident’ because it represented further evidence of the fragile security situation in Yemen including Sana'a.

In addition, Ashton reiterated the unequivocal support of the European Union to President Hadi, the National Consensus Government and the implementation of the GCC initiative.

The Bulgarian foreign minister, Nikolay Mladenov, also issued a statement in connection to the kidnapping attempt and violence against Boris Borisov, Ambassador of the country to Yemen.

He named the attempt ‘shocking’ and pointed out that ‘attacks on diplomats are against the basic principles of international relations’.

Moreover, Minister Mladenov also stated that Bulgaria ‘expects the Yemeni authorities to take urgent measures to uncover the perpetrators of this outrage and to prevent the possibility of such incidents in future’.

Interestingly, the Bulgarian foreign minister also said that ‘political and tribal divisions in the country should be solved by means of political dialogue and not through violence’,  thus conveying the message that very probably Ambassador Borisov was to become a victim of warring tribes.

Ambassador Borisov and his wife were attacked by four unknown men on one of the main streets in Sana’a on 12 May, while passing by in the Embassy’s official car. The envoy managed to resist the numerous hits and threatening with a knife and took control over the car and, in this way, preventing his kidnapping.