Draft:Petar Kraytchev

Petar Kraytchev is a career diplomat with diverse foreign affairs experience. On June 24, 2022 he was appointed Director General for Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria after having held that position as Acting Director General since February 16, 2022. While serving as the Director General for Bilateral Relations, Petar Kraytchev also held – for a brief tenure in 2023 – the position of Acting Director of the Strategic Communications and Public Diplomacy Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

The Director General for Bilateral Relations oversees and coordinates the MFA Directorates whose territorial scope comprises Asia, Australia and Oceania; North and South America; Eastern Europe and Central Asia; Middle East and Africa; as well as the corresponding regional organizations and fora.

In early 2020 Petar Kraytchev was appointed Director of the Americas Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.

From 2015 to November 2019 he was posted to Canada where he served as head of mission – Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Toronto, Canada.

Previously Mr. Kraytchev worked in New York where he held the position of Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Nations (Sept-Nov 2015) and Alternate Representative to the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Over the course of three years (2010-2013) Petar Kraytchev served as the Congressional Liaison at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Washington, DC – his second consecutive tour of duty in the U.S. capital – with the first one taking place from 2005 through 2008. His portfolio in Washington, DC comprised parliamentary diplomacy; cultural affairs, education, science; NGO relations; cooperation with Honorary Consuls of the Republic of Bulgaria in the U.S.; Latin America and OAS; public diplomacy etc.

Petar Kraytchev joined the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002. Three years later, he was posted to Washington, DC as a junior diplomat on the Political section of the Bulgarian Embassy in the U.S. From 2008 through 2010 and from 2013-2015 Petar Kraytchev held positions at the Americas Directorate of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the 2004 Bulgarian OSCE Chairmanship Petar Kraytchev worked as the MFA public relations liaison with the OSCE HQ in Vienna. He was also tasked with managing the media and PR aspects of the 2004 OSCE Ministerial meeting, held in Sofia in December 2004. For his work on the Bulgarian OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Ministerial meeting in 2004, Petar Kraytchev was awarded the Silver Commendation of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 2018 – as the Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Toronto, Canada – Petar Kraytchev received commendation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria for his overall contribution to the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Prior to joining the Bulgarian Diplomatic Service Mr. Kraytchev pursued NGO objectives for enhanced international academic and cultural exchange at the level of higher education institutions. He is fluent in English and German, with knowledge in Russian and Spanish.