The row concerning President Georgi Purvanov recording, and then publishing online, his conversation with Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov was threatening to become a serious diplomatic problem, right-wing Blue Coalition Assen Agov told reporters in Parliament on March 11 2010.

Agov said that during his and other right-wing politicians' meetings with foreign diplomats, the latter had expressed concern over whether their meetings with President Purvanov had been recorded and, if so, what had become of these recordings.

Agov refused to name the diplomats who had raised these concerns because they arose in a private conversation. He asked authorities, however, to resolve the issue as soon as possible so as to avoid a diplomatic row.

The issue of Purvanov's staff recording meetings at the Presidency arose when Purvanov published online a transcript of the March 5 2010 meeting between himself and Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov.

Dyankov claimed not to have been informed that the meeting was being recorded. After Purvanov's office published the transcript, ruling party GERB accused him of violating the constitution. It then said it would table a motion for impeachment against Purvanov.

According to Vice President Angel Marin, recording all meetings at the Presidency was standard practice and should not have surprised anyone.

Legal experts have already said that Dyankov and Purvanov had met in their capacity as public figures and it was quite logical to expect that their encounter would be recorded, especially when a clerk transcribing the conversation was present in the room.