News from Bulgaria / March 26, 96

From: bulgaria@access1.digex.net (Embassy of Bulgaria)

Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Directory

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

26 March, 1996

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT ZHELEV PAYS OFFICIAL VISIT TO BELGIUM

Before meeting his host, Zhelyu Zhelev visited NATO Headquarters to discuss NATO enlargement in Eastern Europe. President Zhelev conferred with NATO Secretary General Javier Solana and then met the NATO Council, convened at member countries permanent representatives level.

Mr Solana welcomed the Bulgarian President, saying that over the years Mr Zhelev had been a strong advocate of closer relations between Bulgaria and NATO.

The NATO Secretary General expressed gratitude for Bulgaria's "generous offers" to support the IFOR and said that this country has a "legal interest" in restoring economic relations with the former Yugoslavia greatly impaired by the UN Security Council embargo against Serbia and Montenegro.

As regards relations between Bulgaria and NATO, Mr Solana stressed this country's active role in the implementation of the Partnership for Peace programme which he described as indicative of commitment to the collective approach to security established by NATO and the partner-countries through this programme.

The friendly hand the alliance extended to Bulgaria has been accepted, Mr Solana said expressing the hope that this friendship will deepen.

Zhelev made a high assessment of Bulgaria's participation in the Partnership for Peace programme. This marked a new stage in Bulgaria's affiliation ot NATO, i.e. in the realization of democratic Bulgaria's strategic goal full integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Bulgaria attaches great importance to promoting cooperation with NATO, Zhelev said.

There is hardly a more important issue in international relations than the current discussions on NATO enlargement. Naturally Bulgaria will take an active and constructive part in intensified dialogue with NATO on these problems, the Bulgarian President continued.

According to the Bulgarian President, NATO enlargement will be a most categorical confirmation of the right of the East European democracies to free choice in security. The decisions to join NATO should be made de jure and de facto by NATO and the respective country. No country outside NATO should block or impede this process, Mr Zhelev said. He expressed optimism as regards the finding of adequate ways and forms of constructive relations between NATO and Russia in a number of important areas.

The Bulgarian President said that, according to its abilities, Bulgaria is ready to be part of the joint effort to help rebuild Bosnia. Zhelev added that this country will continue to foster dialogue and understanding in the Balkans, and will work for restoring the damages and compensating the losses and for the realization of large-scale infrastructure projects in the Balkans.

At the news conference after the meeting with the NATO Council, the Bulgarian President stated still more categorically this country's wish to become a full member of NATO. He said only NATO could guarantee Bulgaria's security now.

At the news conference the NATO Secretary General said that the process of enlargement of the alliance to the East will continue. However, he mentioned no specific countries or terms. In response to a question put by BTA, Mr Solana denied any interrelation between NATO and EU membership. There are no legal grounds for this, though the process of the two organization's enlargement will be parallel, Mr Solana said.

Later on President Zhelev met Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene. The two sides discussed the state and the prospects of bilateral relations. Both leaders agreed that the present level of these relations does not correspond to their traditions or to the wish to promote them.

After the talks Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene and his wife gave official dinner for Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev and his wife.

[02] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO ATTEND IGC OPENING

With his counterparts of the other associated countries he will attend a working dinner and the meeting on the following day which will provide detailed information on the beginning of the conference.

"This is of great symbolic importance. The fact that the foreign ministers of the associated countries have been invited shows the serious and responsible attitude of the EU to its enlargement to the East, Deputy Foreign Minister Irina Bokova told the press today. Ms Bokova will also be member of the Bulgarian delegation to Torino. She also said that Bulgaria's presence in Torino is "a positive development in this country's relations with the European Union".

[03] CHAIRMAN OF RUSSIAN STATE DOUMA SELEZNYOV IN SOFIA

"We expect much from this visit. I expect the meetings here to strengthen relations between the two parliaments which have been unsatisfactory," Seleznyov said upon his arrival. "We are pleased that relations between Bulgaria and Russia are improving and intensifying, and I believe that our visit will provide a further incentive," he also said.

Bulgaria is one of the priority countries for Russia, Seleznyov said, stressing the current visit is the third official international visit by a delegation of the Russian State Duma.

The Russian delegation first met with National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov. The two parliamentary leaders met for the second time this year. Sendov familiarized the delegation with the work of the National Assembly. He presented the Bulgarian position on membership in NATO.

The members of the Russian delegation discussed a recent Russian State Duma resolution that declared null and void decisions which led to the breakup of the Soviet Union. The resolution does not have legal force; it is of a sociopolitical nature, Seleznyov said. According to him, it reaffirmed that moves that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union five years ago violated the Constitution.

Seleznyov described as hasty a declaration by Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev on the State Duma decision. "I think he had not even read our decisions," he said. "It is unsound for the President to make judgements without studying the document," he added.

"Obviously, President Zhelev's plans did not include our visit," Seleznyov said, commenting on the impossibility of meeting the Bulgarian Head of State. He said that he sees nothing extraordinary in the fact the President had planned a visit to Brussels coinciding with the Russian delegation's visit.

Russia does not intend to influence Bulgaria's position on membership in NATO, the leader of Russian delegation said after meeting Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski. According to the Russian parliamentary chairman, the Bulgarian position is closer to the Russian than the Czech or Polish, insofar as Bulgaria is still having a discussion on the issue and has not yet formally applied for membership.

At a meeting later today with Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, the sides discussed cooperation in building a Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline. Seleznyov expressed satisfaction with the talks which focused on many issues of bilateral cooperation. "Bulgaria and Russia lost a lot as result of a cold spell in relations after 1991, and I am very pleased with the activity of your Prime Minister Zhan Videnov," Seleznyov said. The participants reviewed bilateral agreements and relations not only in the last two or three years, but also in the last 25 years, the Bulgarian Prime Minister said after the meeting. He expressed satisfaction with his guest's assurances that the agreements which form the legal basis of relations will remain firmly in place and will be speedily reaffirmed and ratified by the two parliaments. This seals relations politically, Videnov said.

The Russian delegation laid flowers at the monuments to the Unknown Soldier and Russian Emperor Alexander II (known in Bulgaria as the Tsar Liberator as a result of a Russo-Turkish war that ended five centuries of Turkish rule in Bulgaria). Tomorrow the Russian deputies meet with members of the Foreign Policy Committee of the National Assembly and Bulgarian Patriarch Maksim.

[04] BULGARIA, US: MILITARY COOPERATION

Vice Admiral Kontrov and his delegation met in the Pentagon with the deputy secretary of the US navy Robert Pierie, Admiral Burda and the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jay Johnson. They discussed bilateral relations in the field.

The delegation held talks at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis and the Atlantic command in Norfolk and was familiarized with the work of the navy training centre in Illinois.

Admiral Burda presented Vice Admiral Kontrov with a medal of honor on behalf of US Defence Secretary William Perry. The award, the highest bestowed on a foreign officer, is a recognition of Kontrov's merits in strengthening bilateral naval cooperation.

[05] WORLD BANK WANTS BALKAN AIRLINES CLOSED DOWN

Loss-makers will certainly have to be closed down but Balkan Airlines will not be among them, "Standart News" says, quoting government sources. According to them, the World Bank asked that loss- makers be grouped according to their financial results. One category will comprise indispensable companies which will be subsidized and Balkan Airlines belongs to it, according to the Government.

The World Bank's offer of a 200-million-dollar loan in return for the closure of the national flag carrier Balkan Airlines is rather impudent and injurious to national dignity, the daily says in a front-page comment. "If the Government acts out of character and yields to pressure, we will be heading for disaster," "Standart News" says. In 1995 the Washington- based financiers insisted that Bulgaria close down several banks pledging a similar loan, but not a cent has been lent so far, the daily recalls.

Should the young Prime Minister bow [to this demand], other creditors may come tomorrow asking that Bulgaria be closed down, pledging to forgive it its foreign debt, "Standart News" says. PLAMA

[06] PLEVEN REFINERY DEFIES ECONOMIC LOGIC

Oil prices are a major problem for Plama, Hristova says. In her view, few countries can afford to buy crude oil at prices higher than the country average.

Another cause of the current crisis in Plama is unfair competition and unprofitable contracts, says Hristova. For instance, Plama contracted to export 35,000 tonnes of oils to Poland in 1993 but the deal fell through.

Fuel pricing methods are the third major cause of Plama's losses, Hristova says, suggesting that by dividing the trade discount equally between producers and distributors, which would leave the current price unchanged and the problem would be solved.

Plama's debts total 64 million dollars. A rehabilitation programme will be drawn up by the end of the week, Hristova says. It will seek to restore confidence in banks and to cut back on expenses. All requirements of foreign trade regulations should be met, Hristova says. State-financed organizations are advised to buy Bulgarian-made goods.