Former ambassadors criticised on March 5 2008 Bulgaria's wavering position on recognising Kosovo's independence from Belgrade.

Although Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said that he would recommend the Government to recognise Kosovo's secession after the province declared its independence on February 17, Bulgaria's ruling coalition has avoided initiating Parliament debates on adopting a motion in that sense.

Opposition parties have rapped Bulgaria's ambiguous stance and former ambassadors from Bulgaria's Foreign Policy Association joined them in criticism, saying that the "wait and see" tactic adopted by the Cabinet was detrimental in the long run.

"Bulgaria's official foreign policy is not making a good investment in its future," association chairman and former ambassador to Japan and Philippines, Petar Andonov, told reporters at a news conference. Bulgaria's declared goals of stability in the region meant that the Government should recognise Kosovo, he added.

Former ambassadors to Balkan countries were a lot more critical, however. The current policy resembled the communist-era habit of laying low when facing the unknown, the former ambassador to Macedonia, Angel Dimitrov said. "Ambiguity can be interpreted as either double standards or indecisiveness," he added.

And the former ambassador to Albania, Bobi Bobev, berated the Cabinet of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev for not taking a more active role in finding a solution. "Bulgaria is still behaving as a European Union candidate country, rather than a member state, referring to the EU in the third person," he said.

A total of 24 countries have already recognised Kosovo, most recently The Netherlands and Sweden on March 4, and five more have launched recognition procedures, according to kosovothanksyou.com website, which is tracking the process. Another 24 countries, Bulgaria among them, are expected to follow suit.