site.btaTourism Ministry Says Bulgaria's Vote in Favour of Russia’s Suspension from UNWTO Came Contrary to Its Instructions

In a press release here on Thursday, the Bulgarian Tourism Ministry rebutted media reports that Tourism Minister Hristo Prodanov has voted in favour of Russia’s suspension from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and explained that Bulgaria's vote in favour of the suspension came contrary to the Ministry's instructions.

Russia was suspended from UNWTO on April 27 by a majority vote of the General Assembly of the organization.

According to the Tourism Ministry, Bulgaria’s vote in favour came from an official of the Bulgarian Embassy in Madrid and it was not coordinated with the Tourism Ministry. In an official letter to the Foreign Ministry, Prodanov proposed that Bulgaria abstain in the vote, complying with the positions of Bulgaria’s National Tourism Board and Hotel and Restaurant Association.

The Tourism Ministry’s position reads: “Bulgaria is among the countries which are particularly affected by the closeness of the [Russian-Ukrainian] military conflict, and the aggravated geopolitical situation has certainly caused both economic and image damage to the competitiveness of Bulgarian tourism, which is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Tourism Ministry also claims that an "abstain" vote would have been the least damaging to both Bulgaria’s bilateral and multilateral tourism relations, and the tourist flow. According to the press release, Bulgaria’s tourism industry aids the people fleeing the war in Ukraine and deserves to be heard.