President Rosen Plevneliev is on a two-day working visit to Brussels on January 25 and 26 2012. This is Rosen Plevneliev’s first visit abroad as Head of State.
President Plevneliev today met NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the Alliance’s headquarters.
At the start of talks, President Plevneliev reaffirmed Bulgaria’s commitment to the principles and objectives of NATO. He emphasised the vital importance of the TransAtlantic relationship in dealing with the security challenges of the 21st century.
In the course of the talks, Secretary General Rasmussen informed the President of preparations for the NATO Summit meeting in Chicago in May 2012 as well the main topics on the agenda of the Summit – the mission in Afghanistan, partnerships and capacity development.
Mr Rasmussen described the “Smart Defence” initiative as the most effective response to the need to develop adequate defence capabilities of the European allies. This view was shared by the Bulgarian side, with the President highlighting the priorities for Bulgarian projects within this initiative.
At the meeting, the Bulgarian side expressed appreciation for the Alliance retaining an “open doors” policy.
During the talks, support was confirmed for strengthening the NATO partnership, especially through co-operation with partners from the Middle East and North Africa, to which Bulgaria is ready to contribute.
Also discussed were missile defence and co-operation with Russia. The pace of construction of a missile defence system in Europe that meets expectations of effective protection of European territory and the people of Alliance states, including Bulgaria, was discussed. Again it was argued that the missile defence system is not directed against Russia, and the need to continue dialogue and practical co-operation within the NATO-Russia Council was discussed. After the meeting, President Plevneliev and Mr Rasmussen jointly made statements to the media. “Bulgaria is an important ally of NATO, a guarantee of security in South Eastern Europe,” the Secretary-General said. He praised the participation of Bulgarian forces in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Libya.
President Plevneliev expressed thanks for the high regard with which Bulgaria was seen, as an important and responsible ally, and confirmed Bulgaria’s commitment to the Alliance’s operations and missions.
On the question of the Western Balkans, Secretary-General Rasmussen said that the Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries of this region was the best way to achieve security and stability. President Plevneliev said that Bulgaria was ready to assume its responsibility and role in the region with the expertise and experience that it has.
During his visit, President Plevneliev met the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schultz. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, President Plevneliev said that Bulgaria always had found support in the European Parliament and that he had been assured by Mr Schultz that the country would continue to receive such treatment. “The chance to have clear and direct communication was important. Bulgaria is working hard and we want our positions to be supported and understood,” the President said. “After our meeting today, it is clear that the European Parliament and its President not only support us but also are closely involved in our work and our efforts to advance.”
Later, the Bulgarian President met European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The EC President expressed his strong support for Bulgaria joining the Schengen zone. The two also discussed the use of structural funds and Bulgaria’s positions in the European Union.
Mr Barroso emphasised that the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism, through which the European Commission annually presents a report on Bulgaria’s progress in combating organised crime and corruption, should not be linked or somehow part of the process of evaluation for membership of Schengen. “Bulgaria must be judged objectively on Schengen and should receive a positive evaluation. We do not agree with the Mechanism report being used as part of the process of evaluating a country for Schengen, because these are different topics,” Mr Barroso said.
Mr Barroso praised the work of Bulgaria’s European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, adding that the good results that she had achieved reflected positively on Bulgaria’s image.
President Plevneliev expressed gratitude to EC President Barroso for the fair assessments of Bulgaria in the past two years in the European Commission correspondence on structural funds. Rosen Plevneliev reiterated that he would be a pragmatic President who would seek to achieve concrete results in areas which he had identified as his long-term priorities. He said that it was natural that Bulgaria and the EU would have priorities in common.
President Barroso said that he was impressed by the pro-European programme of the Bulgarian President. He said that the informal meeting of the Council of EU leaders on Monday would seek to stimulate economic growth of the EU.
European Council President Herman van Rompuy expressed support for Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen zone. During his meeting with President Plevneliev, Mr Van Rompuy confirmed that there was a clear EU position on the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in Schengen, because both countries had met the criteria for membership. Mr Van Rompuy again emphasised that he would include the issue on the agenda of the European Council in March, if by then no agreement had been reached.
Mr Van Rompuy said that it was very important for Bulgaria to achieve progress against corruption and organised crime, strengthening of the judiciary and the rule of law. He said that at his meeting with the Bulgarian President, the enlargement of the EU to include the Western Balkans was discussed. He said that the signing of the Accession Treaty with Croatia and the positive outcome of that country’s referendum were favourable signals to other countries in the region.
“Bulgaria is active and responsible, a country that shares the assessment that the next phase of integration and stabilisation is important and is expected by the EU,” President Plevneliev said after his meeting with Herman van Rompuy. President Plevneliev said that Bulgaria was a symbol of fiscal stability, which was not achieved for free and for which Bulgaria had to struggle. He said that Bulgaria’s aim was sustainable social and financial systems.
President Plevneliev, speaking at a news conference for Bulgarian journalists in Brussels, emphasised that at all his meetings with European leaders, he had been assured that Bulgaria fulfilled the conditions for accession to the Schengen zone and that they would continue to push for Bulgaria to be recognised for the efforts that it had made in this area. He said that European Council President Herman van Rompuy had announced his intention to visit the Netherlands in two weeks’ time and during that visit, to discuss the accession to Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen. The President added that Bulgaria would continue to strive to achieve observer status at the councils of heads of state and government of the euro zone countries.
In Brussels, President Plevneliev met with Bulgarians working in European institutions. More than 180 people attended a meeting with the President at the European Commission building. They asked President Plevneliev for stricter controls over recruitment to the public administration, for Bulgaria to clearly identify its long-term foreign policy priorities and for high-tech to become the leading sector of the national economy. President Plevneliev said that state institutions were looking at Bulgarians working abroad from different points of view and added that this could be very useful in setting national priorities for the long-term. “I want to ask you to unite around common goals. Other countries follow their interests closely,” he said.
The President expressed appreciation for the work being done by Bulgarians in European institutions and emphasised that successes were important to change the way that Bulgaria is perceived in the EU. In response to comments by Adriana Tosheva that Bulgaria should more actively seek out the expertise of those working in European institutions, rather than those Bulgarians having to “shout out” to government departments to tell them what is happening in Brussels, President Plevneliev urged Bulgarians also to become more involved in the work of state institutions. He added that in coming years, Bulgaria would adopt a qualitatively new approach to foreign policy in defence of its national interests and in its policy towards Bulgarian communities abroad.
In response to a question about the direction that Bulgaria would take – East or West – President Plevneliev told the gathering in Brussels that Bulgaria remained open to the whole world as a worthy member of the European Union.
Asked by Svetoslav Stoyanov about the development of the public administration, the President said that administrative reform is key to the success of Bulgaria. “I dream of an administration that can say ‘no’ to a minister, because it works according to clear rules and criteria, irrespective who is the minister,” President Plevneliev said. He said that expert analysis should provide the guidance, and should be the basis on which political decisions are taken.
Asked by Vanya Ivanova about the prospects for the poorest regions, Rosen Plevneliev said that isolation is a symbol of poverty, and poverty could be overcome through rapid absorption of European funds, and that on regional level, agriculture has the potential to become a source of income security for people from minorities.
The President informed the Bulgarians working in EU institutions about the development of the regions in Bulgaria. He expressed his satisfaction that local authorities in Bulgaria now realised that EU funds were not simply given away, but were the result of well-drafted and secure projects. The President said that Bulgarian regions should open an office in Brussels.
In response to a statement that Bulgarians abroad do not receive enough information about the priorities of the state, President Plevneliev said that the lines of communication with Bulgarian communities abroad would expand in the future. He told the Bulgarian Embassy in Brussels team to expand its communication activities to keep as many as possible of the Bulgarians there informed about the implementation of stated national priorities.
On the first day of his visit to Brussels, President Plevneliev spoke with Bulgarian MEPs from different political parties in the European Parliament. The President’s delegation included Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov.