Georgieva shakes up race for top UN post, paves way for a development leader to take the helm

The United Nations race for secretary-general just got a little more interesting.

The Bulgarian government announced Wednesday it was nominating Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for budget and human resources, for the top U.N. job, following a long period of speculation about whether she would join the race.

The switch-up could give Georgieva a running shot against António Guterres, the former high commissioner for the United Nations refugee agency, who has dominated the polls leading up to the Security Council’s final closed-door vote on Tuesday. It also likely means the next secretary-general will come from a strong global development background.

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