From: bulgaria@access4.digex.net (Embassy of Bulgaria)
Subject: BTA inf/ Apr. 3, 95
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY
BULLETIN OF NEWS FROM BULGARIA APRIL 3, 1995
Bulgaria's transition to a market economy is lagging behind, said Todor Vulchev, Governor of the National Bank of Bulgaria (BNB, the central Bank) talking about the conclusions of the second meeting of the "Dutch Group" with the IMF. Mr Vulchev returned late last night from a regular meeting of the group in Amsterdam at the head of a delegation. Following Israel and Cyprus, the "Dutch Group" was joined by Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Macedonia and Croatia, Prof. Vulchev explained. For the first time representatives of Bosna and Herzegovina attended a meeting of the group as observers. Bulgaria is lagging behind the other states in the group in terms of legislation, although its steps towards liberalization of the currency market and restructuring of the financial system date further back. According to BNB's Vice Governor Mileti Mladenov, two years ago Bulgaria followed close the first four in the group - Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, but now had dropped behind the new member states, because of its political turmoil. According to Mr Mladenov, instead of budget deficit, some countries in the "Dutch Group" are considering budget surpluses.
A delegation of Bulgaria's Transport Ministry, led by Deputy Transport Minister Haralan Haralanov held talks with their colleagues from the Macedonian Ministry of Transport and Communications. On the agenda were a wide range of issues concerning cooperation in transport. The talks focused on the possibilities for facilitating cargo and passenger transport between the two countries.Bulgaria complained of the high tolls Macedonia charges for using its heavy truck terminals. The hosts raised similar claims in connection with Bulgarian fees for parking and health insurance. The two sides agreed to seek possibilities to reduce and eliminate taxes and minimize formalities for passenger buses crossing the borders. The two sides were unanimous that the transport of oil products for Macedonia via Bulgaria is unproblematic and that the decision for arrangement of tanks in convoys had been appropriate.The Macedonian delegation wanted a lasting solution to be found on the usage of Bulgarian Black Sea ports, particularly after the East-West railway corridor is put into operation. The hosts brought forward the necessity of opening new border check-points between Bulgaria and Macedonia at Berovo-Mikrevo (Klepalo), Pehchevo-Simitli and Delchevo-Tsarvanitsa. The Bulgarian delegation replied that the opening of new border check-points has to be agreed by the two states' foreign ministries.
The Macedonian experts said that the 56-km long section Kumanovo-Kriva Palanka-Gyueshevo of the East-West trunk railway will be ready by September, 1996. The two neighbouring states are going to sign at a higher level an intergovernmental agreement on linking their railway networks, the news release on the meeting says.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Georgi Pirinski will pay a working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany between April 3 and 5, 1995, at the invitation of the Federal Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Klaus Kinkel, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.Mr Pirinski will confer with officials of the German Government, the Bundestag and with businessmen on an activation of the bilateral political dialogue, the role of the FRG for Bulgaria's integration into the European structures, as well as ways to overcome Bulgaria's problems arising from the Yugoconflict and possible initiatives for their mitigation, according to the press release.
On April 5 Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski will meet in Vienna with Dr Heinz Fischer, President of the Austrian Nationalrat, and with Austrian Foreign Minister Dr Alois Mock.
Apart from bilateral relations the two sides will discuss issues related to the overcoming the consequences of the Yugoconflict and possibilities for assisting the finding of a lasting solution aimed at the stabilization of the Balkan region and its integration into Europe, the spokesman also said.
"I am familiar with most problems of the posts and telecommunications system, but the first thing I do will be to meet the people working at the Committee," the newly appointed Chairman of the Posts and Telecommunications Committee, Lyubomir Kolarov, said in a brief interview for BTA. Kolarov is a member of the Executive Bureau of the Supreme Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Radio, Television and BTA. "Posts and telecommunications are one of the important sectors of social and economic life and we have to be responsible for their condition," Kolarov said.
Asked by BTA if structural and personnel changes have been considered, Kolarov said he had not discussed the structure [of the Committee yet, let alone personnel changes.
Asked about his attitude towards the mass media, the new Chairman of the Posts and Telecommunications Committee said that his career began there, that they are dear to him and he hopes that they will help each other. "Radio, television and the post have always worked together and I think that they will continue to work in coordination," Kolarov said. Kolarov was a popular TV journalist and commentator for many years.
Asked to comment on the front-page article in today's "Demokratsiya" daily, headlined "BSP Sets its Own Ministry of Truth", Kolarov said that such writings were to be accounted for by their authors. He declined to comment on the article as he had not read the newspaper.
"BSP Sets Its Own Ministry of Truth" caps an editorial in "Demokratsiya", the daily of the Union of Democratic Forces. Referring to informed sources, the paper writes that the leadership of the ruling Socialist Party is preparing not only to replace the governing team of the Posts and Telecommunications Committee with a new one, but also to enlarge the Committee's range of activities, adding to them the information sphere. Reportedly, the disputes over the problems of information policy between the BSP leadership and Videnov's government went on for more than two months. A compromise decision would be the restructuring of the Committee and the subordination of all state-owned electronic media to it. "The future of the Bulgarian News Agency has not been decided yet, but according to the BSP think-tank the Government cannot afford to give up its control over the biggest and most powerful news agency in the country," "Demokratsiya" writes. The source also said that Prime Minister Videnov was likely to make a concession and agree on the inclusion of BTA into the Committee's system.
'Demokratsiya' reports of Kolarov's appointment as chief of the Posts and Telecommunications Committee but does not mention possible structural changes in the Committee. However, according to 'Demokratsiya', Kolarov will be in charge of 'the implementation of the political course of the BSP/BCP'. The newspaper adds that Iliya Bozhinov, son of Todor Bozhinov who was a member of Todor Zhivkov's Politburo, and Nikolai Marinov, brother of BSP spokesperson Klara Marinova, have been named as Kolarov's deputies.
"Mr Marinov called BTA today to deny being any relative of Klara Marinova. He said also that he has not been informed about the above-mentioned appointment."
The Bulgarian Army will outlay between 15 and 20 percent from its 1995 budget for maintenance support, Deputy Defence Minister Vladimir Penchev told a news conference today. The army's current expenses more than doubled last year and if it receives insufficient budget allocations, the army will have to cut on its maintenance support, Minister Penchev said.
Last year's military budget was some 13,000 million leva (1 USD equals 66,949 leva at current exchange rate) and for this year the Defence Ministry has proposed a budget of some 36,000 million leva for the armed forces, including 25,000 million leva for the army alone, Mr Penchev said. "Standart News" quoted unnamed experts as saying that the Government intends to allocate 19,800 million leva for the army. Since the requested 30,000 million cannot be provided, the government is considering now a 23,000 - 25,000 project. The military budget should be four times its last year's figure, Defence Minister Dimiter Pavlov said at the end of 1994.
Military aviation needs 15,000 million leva in 1995 to survive and the Air Forces need a total of 17,000 million leva, Commander of the Air Forces Lieutenant-General Mihov told a news briefing a fortnight ago. The military industry needs nearly 4,000 million leva to launch export-oriented manufacture, unnamed senior officials of the military industrial complex are quoted as saying in "Standart News". A month ago the Navy opened an auction of old vessels. According to statistics, over 70 per cent of the ships in the navy are past their service life. Of all Black Sea states, Bulgaria has fewest warships. The country uses old equipment to protect its sea borders, heads of the Naval Forces and Border Troops have claimed in interviews published in the press over the last few months.
We wanted to establish this first contact at the level of foreign ministers, making it a starting point for a series of initiatives aimed to seriously activate bilateral relations, as well as multilateral initiatives concerning integration processes in Europe and the final settlement of problems and stabilization in the Balkan region," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski said after the talks with his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias, this morning. The chief Greek diplomat arrived on a two-day visit to Sofia yesterday. Mr Pirinski and Mr Papoulians had a tete-a-tete last night. They resumed their talks this morning; later on they were joined by the members of the Bulgarian and the Greek delegation. This is the first visit by the foreign minister of a Balkan state after the victory of the Bulgarian Socialist Party in last year's parliamentary elections.
According to Mr Pirinski, the two foreign ministers informed each other about their countries' clear intention to activate the political dialogue at the level of responsible government officials. In two weeks' time the Bulgarian-Greek trade and economic commission will have a session in Athens. Arrangements are being made for the exchange of high-level visits. Mr Pirinski and Mr Papoulias agreed to pay due attention to a range of consular and visa problems concerning employment and visits of citizens of the two countries.
The two ministers confirmed the intentions of Bulgaria and Greece to activate their efforts for the achievement of stability in the Balkans. The Bulgarian side made two proposals. One of them is that the countries directly affected by the Yugoembargo raise the question of the ensuing problems at the United Nations again and seek the international community's most active assistance for the purpose of offsetting their losses. The other proposal is to clearly state that the countries suffering from the Yugoemargo insist on putting an end to the conflict and are prepared to provide assistance to the contact group and help along the international effort for finding a lasting and balanced solution to the problem, accompanied by the soonest possible lifting of sanctions.
The Greek Foreign Minister showed understanding for both Bulgarian proposals. "Mr Papoulias also made a suggestion at the talks this morning, " Minister Pirinski told journalists later. Mr Papoulias proposed to try and organize a meeting of the foreign ministers of the countries hit by the embargo during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the countries particpating in Black Sea cooperation, which is to be held in Athens in April this year; thus they could consider the proposal of possible steps for the lifting of sanctions, in parallel to the settlement of the conflict in the territory of ex-Yugoslavia, and for the compensation of losses those countries suffered so far. The first reaction to the Bulgarian proposals is encouraging, Minister Pirinski said.
After their meeting this morning, Mr Pirinski and Mr papoulias signed a protocol on the exchange of the ratification instruments for the Bulgarian-Greek agreement on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments.
Tomorrow evening President Zhelev will leave on a four-day official visit to the Republic of Korea which will be followed by a one-day official visit to Mongolia. President Zhelev will visit the two countries for the first time. TABThe official Bulgarian delegation to accompany the President includes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Cooperation Kiril Tsochev, Culture Minister Prof. Georgi Kostov and MPs of the parliamentary foreign policy committee. The President will also be accompanied by a group of Bulgarian businessmen, representing major state and private companies.
At his meeting with Korean state leaders Dr Zhelev is expected to discuss bilateral relations issues and cooperation in international organizations, the Korean problem and the situation in the Balkans, the President's foreign political advisor, Kamen Velichkov, told BTA. He added that one of the main purposes of the visit will be to secure economic partners and Korean investment in Bulgaria.
The programme of the visit envisages meetings of President Zhelev with the President of the Republic of Korea, Kim Young-Sam, with the leadership of the National Assembly and with Foreign Minister Gong Ro-myung. Dr Zhelev will visit the headquarters of large Korean companies and will confer with representatives of Korean trade organizations.
Though Bulgaria and the Republic of Korea established diplomatic relations only in 1990, their trade and diplomatic contacts are developing rapidly. In 1993 bilateral commercial exchange exceeded US$ 60 million which is double the 1991 figure. Since 1993 the large South Korean companies of Hyundai, Daewoo and Samsung have been showing a marked interest in investing in Bulgaria. Last year the two countries signed an agreement on avoiding double taxation, a trade agreement and an intergovernmental agreement on air traffic.
A three-year plan for cooperation in culture is expected to be signed during the visit. Bulgaria and the Republic of Korea signed a Cultural Agreement in January 1994. The first book by a Bulgarian author to be translated into the Korean - Yordan Radichkov's "We, the Sparrows, will be launched during the visit. Sculptor Vezhdi Rashidov and artist Zahari Kamenov will show their exhibitions. President Zhelev, who is doctor of philosophy, has been invited to read a lecture at the Hankuk University in Seoul.
During his visit to Mongolia, President Zhelev and Mongolian President Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat are expected to sign a bilateral Treaty for Friendly Relations and Cooperation, Kamen Velichkov said, adding that this document would make it possible to restore the traditionally friendly relations with Mongolia. The two presidents will discuss the prospects for promoting bilateral economic cooperation.
Bulgaria and Mongolia established diplomatic relations in 1950. Till 1989, when the democratic reform was launched in Bulgaria, the two countries regularly exchanged visits at different levels. In 1967 they signed a Treaty for Friendship and Cooperation which was renewed in 1987. In an interview for "Douma" last November Mongolian Ambassador in Sofia, Mr Gombosurengiin Dashdavaa said that "the first signs of a restoration of the relations between individual enterprises in Mongolia and Bulgaria appeared in 1993". According to him, commercial exchange between the two countries is small - some US$ 700,000 in the first half of the year. The Mongolian Ambassador believes that there is interest in promoting economic cooperation in both countries - Bulgarian companies have expressed a wish to establish contacts with Mongolian enterprises in gold and rare metals mining and Mongolia imports products of Bulgaria's canning and light industries.
Among other things, National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov and the Greek guest discussed Greece's motives for changing its stand in favour of participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Papoulias said that according to his country, at the present stage there are no obstacles to Greece's participation in Black Sea Economic Cooperation at parliamentary level. Sendov and Papoulias were unanimous that Bulgaria and Greece should coordinate their stands on this issue. The Bulgarian National Assembly Chairman expressed the opinion, that parliamentary relations within the framework of Black Sea Economic Cooperation could be regulated in such a way so that possible disputes on ethnic minorities and other problems be discussed in the European structures and not by the representatives of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation member countries. The Greek side supported this stand. Greek Foreign Minister Papoulias informed the Bulgarian National Assembly Chairman of the difficulties experienced by the Greek authorities in dealing with Bulgarian nationals working illegally on their territory. According to the Greek side, these illegal Bulgarians number 40-50,000.
Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias also met MPs of the parliamentary foreign policy committee. "The meeting was at the request of the opposition," the chief of the committee, Nikolai Kamov, said after the meeting. The Greek Foreign Minister was asked many questions - on border checkpoints between the two countries, on the waters of the Mesta river and on visa regulations. Papoulias promised Greek assistance for deleting Bulgaria from the negative lists of the Schengen agreement at the forthcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU-member states. As regards the opening of new border checkpoints along the Bulgarian-Greek border, Kamov said that the Greek stand was positive.
"I do not think that there are any problems impeding our relations. To the contrary, there are great prospects," Prime Minister Zhan Videnov said after his meeting with Papoulias. He described the visit of the Greek chief diplomat as a favourable prelude to his visit to Greece which will take this summer.
In response to a question on the Bulgarian initiative on the Yugocrisis, Videnov told journalists that this is a stand, coordinated by the Government, which is yet to be circulated through diplomatic channels. "Naturally its success does not depend on Bulgaria alone. It is very important to stress that we wish the lifting of the sanctions to take place step-by-step and to be in a mutual relationship with the development of the peace process in the former Yugoslavia," the Bulgarian Prime Minister said. He added that Bulgaria is seeking the achievement of a common stand of the Balkan countries to be jointly presented and defended before the competent international bodies. Its chances of success would be much greater than those of the individual efforts of a separate state. Asked whether this means that apart from Bulgaria, Greece and Romania, these efforts will be joined by Macedonia and Albania, Videnov said that "we should also consider the participation of Hungary and Slovenia and even of Austria and Italy which could help a lot in this respect".
Later on Karolos Papoulias conferred with President Zhelev. Presidential foreign political adviser Kamen Velichkov said after the meeting that Papoulias delivered to President Zhelev an invitation by Greek President Costas Staphanopoulos to visit Greece. Dr Zhelev extended a similar invitation to the Greek President.
The situation in the Balkans was one of the main topics of the talks which were also attended by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Pirinski. The two sides discussed possible measures for guaranteeing human rights, for preventing conflicts and for establishing international standards in treating human rights violations in both countries, the presidential adviser said.
The two discussed in detail the need to open new border checkpoints between the two countries.
The two sides also discussed the movement of Bulgarian nationals in Greece which will soon join the Schengen agreement. The Greek Foreign Minister stressed the need to settle the issue of the waters of the Mesta river, the presidential adviser also said.
The two-day official visit here by Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Popoulias was assessed as successful at a joint news conference given by the foreign ministers of the two countries.
This was an extremely important visit which addressed concrete problems," Karolos Papoulias said, adding that the talks were held in a warm and exceptionally friendly atmosphere. The Greek Foreign Minister had several meetings with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski - tete-a-tete and with the delegations of the two countries, with Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, with President Zhelyu Zhelev, with National Assembly Chairman Acad. Blagovest Sendov, with MPs of the parliamentary foreign policy committee and with Bulgarian Patriarch Maksim.
In Sofia Greek Foreign Minister Papoulias discussed international issues, regional problems and bilateral relations.
According to Papoulias, Bulgarian-Greek relations are undergoing a constant and upgrade development. At the news conference it was pointed out that economic exchange between the two countries has reached US$ 500 million. Papoulias said that this figure was assessed by Bulgarian and Greek businessman as being far below the potentials of Bulgarian-Greek cooperation. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Pirinski said that the first step to doubling these 500 million would be made at the forthcoming session of the bilateral trade and economic commission due to be held in Athens on April 16 and 17.
An agreement was reached for maintaining constant contact in order to facilitate business activities. Greece will seek to assist businessmen in overcoming bureaucratic obstacles stemming from visa regulations, Foreign Minister Papoulias said. Foreign Minister Pirinski praised the readiness of the Greek side to facilitate administrative procedures hampering the activities of Bulgarian businessmen in Greece and visits by tourists.
Karolos Papoulias submitted to his Bulgarian counterpart a draft project on seasonal Bulgarian workers in Greece and a draft agreement on readmission.
Commenting on the construction of the pipe line from Novorosiisk to the Aegean Sea, the Greek Foreign Minister said that a trilateral meeting of Russia, Bulgaria and Greece will be held some time soon to endorse the necessary documents.
During Karolos Papoulias's visit, the sides discussed some other open problems of the bilateral relations: the waters of the Mesta River and the border crossings. According to the Greek Foreign Minister, his visit found the sides shared identical political will as regards these matters. The two countries' Foreign Ministries should take concerted action to find mutually acceptable solutions to these two problems, said Papoulias.
He also stressed that Greek is most supportive of Bulgaria's efforts to join the European structures, organizations and fora.
The two Foreign Ministers said they have agreed that Bulgaria and Greece cooperate closely to address the problems related to former Yugoslavia, including the UN embargo and the losses some countries - Bulgaria and Greece being among them - sustain as a result of its implementation. There are plans that the foreign ministers of the countries affected by the embargo meet within the framework of an April meeting of foreign ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation in Athens, to consider join action for solving this problem.
Foreign Minister Pirinski dwelled on Bulgaria's initiatives pertaining to the Yugoconflict: adopt a multilateral address to the UN Secretary General and the Security Council calling for a new approach to compensating embargo-related losses, and state clearly a desire to assist the contact group and other international fora and initiatives for finding a speedy solution to the conflict and lifting the sanctions. "We see these efforts on our part within the context of the integration into the European structures," said Foreign Minister Pirinski. He laid particular emphasis on the need to stabilize the region in which Bulgaria is situated, and have compensations for the embargo-related losses. "Stabilization for us means taking concerted action for settling the conflict between the three warring parties on the territory of former Yugoslavia and for lifting the Yugoembargo," he said.
The Bulgarian Foreign Minister also said he will voice this stand at upcoming meetings with his German and Austrian counterparts, Klaus Kinkel and Alois Mock, in Bonn and Vienna.
Foreign Minister Papoulias said he has delivered an invitation from Greek Prime Minister Papandreou to Bulgarian Prime Minister Zhan Videnov for a visit to Greece in the first half of 1995. He also delivered an invitation from Greek President Stephanopolous to Bulgarian Head of State Zhelyu Zhelev. The date for this visit will be specified by diplomatic means. The head of the Greek diplomacy invited his Bulgarian counterpart Pirinski to visit Greek. The two Foreign Ministers will meet in mid-April during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
More than 80 years after the Balkan nations were in war, the situation on the peninsula offers too many analogies; controversies remain open; peace and stability are desireble but unachieved. This conclusion was shared by all researchers, politicians, public figures and journalists at a conference on "The Carnegie Poll and the Balkans Today" that opened here today. The presence of diplomats and political analysts, including former Foreign Policy Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was indicative of the importance attached to this conference held against the background of the Balkan crisis. Attending were also President Zhelyu Zhelev and National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov.
Organized by the Free and Democratic Bulgaria Fund of John Panitza, the conference was prompted by the publication in Bulgarian of a Carnegie Foundation's book about the Balkans and its second publication in English.
Addressing the forum, President Zhelyu Zhelev said the democratic character of Bulgaria's foreign policy - European in its spirit and objectives - stands out clearly in this country's policy in the Balkans. He stressed that Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the new republics on the territory of former Yugoslavia and preach respect for the existing borders and observation of human rights in the Balkans in line with international standards.
The Balkan nations should not allow to be plunged into new deadly conflicts, said the Bulgarian Head of State. "In this part of the continent, the contacts of people among themselves and with the rest of Europe might prove to be the only way from the burdensome legacy to the new future," said Dr. Zhelev. He believes preconditions for this have already been created and mutual confidence built. President Zhelev's assessments were shared by Prof. Dr. James Brown of the University of California, who said in a report Bulgaria is the only factor preventing Macedonia from turning into another Bosnia. This view, however, was challenged by Dr. Dragan Simic of the Belgrade Institute of Foreign Policy and Economy, who stressed the positive effect of the Serb forces' withdrawal from Macedonia.
According to Dr. Brown, the lack of confidence and personal commitment brought about a failure of Western diplomats to settle the Bosnian conflict - a failure that turned into an additional destabilizing factor in the Balkans. The West proved unable to handle the latest negative developments in the Balkans, as well as on other hot spots across the world, and this boosts the role of the involved countries' own governments, said he.
Reports delivered by Prof. Dr. Milcho Lalkov and Prof. Nikolai Genchev triggered debates on the frictions between the Great Powers in the Balkans and on the Balkan culture as the basis for understanding in the region. The speakers stressed the fragmentation of Balkan nations and the high price of territorial expansion. They also dwelled on the Balkan culture: situated on a cross road, it is in Europe's periphery and just before the avant-post of Islamism.
The forum will continue today with round-table discussions on the flexible ethnic and cultural borders between the Balkan nations, on the role of NATO and European structures in providing guarantees for security in the Balkans.
"Bulgaria is undergoing a very difficult transition from a political and economic system that was artificially imposed on the basis of an external model. Undoing that experience will inevitably be a difficult and prolonged process," Dr. Brzezinski said asked to comment on the changes underway in this country. According to him, many people in the West and in former communist countries assumed that adopting a free market can create pluralism which automatically produces both democracy and prosperity. "In fact this is a much more difficult process which requires changes not only in the economic habits not only in the political processes, but also in the political and economic culture," he said. Dr. Brzezinski voiced his prediction this process will last in some case for quite a long time. It will take just as long to fill in the gap that has emerged as a result of the physical elimination of any alternative political elite during the communist era, according to him.
Zbigniew Brzezinski believes there is a further problem arising from the West's insufficient sensitivity for the difficulties facing the countries in transition. He said the West has not created enough opportunities for a number of post-communist countries insofar as their access to Western markets is concerned, stressing the discriminatory tariffs of the European Union.
The comeback to power of former communists in some East and Central European countries caught the highlight at the news conference. According to the former US Presidential Advisor on National Security, the transition depends greatly on "the extent of sincerity" of this process. "Some are genuinely committed to social democracy while for others it is only a tactical instrument used to legitimize their position," said he. "Where former communists have to operate in a coalition with other parties the degree of political pluralism that is likely to be maintained is greater, than in those countries where they enjoy an absolute majority," he went on to say.
"Communism was one of the two principle variants of the 20th century totalitarianism," Brzezinski further said. According to him, Nazism and Communism had one very important thing in common: both believed that a utopia could be established through suppression, brutality. Nazism was based on racial hatred and Communism, on class hatred, but in both cases the driving motivation was a combination of utopianism and hatred. "In fact, if one is a true anti-Nazi, one has to be an anti-Communist. [...] From a moral point of view, to be anti-Nazi and to be an anti-Communist is a badge of honour and I am very proud of that designation," said he. Asked for his views on the solution to the Yugoconflict, Brzezinski said the responsibility for that rests entirely with the parties involved in it. "There is no major power interested in or even capable of imposing a settlement to the Yugoconflict from the outside, " said he. "NATO e will not come to those parts of Europe which are dominated by ethnic conflicts," said Brzezinski. He believes it is in the interest of Yugoslavia's neighbours, who are often the innocent victims of the conflict, to do what they can to advance regional cooperation.