Meeting
of the
Euro-Atlantic
Partnership
Council

Brussels

8 December
1998

Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Bulgaria Mrs Nadezhda Mihailova

Mr Secretary General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The present-day crises and conflicts contain the seeds of trouble we may face tomorrow. The drama in Kosovo and in other parts of former Yugoslavia is a drastic example of this.

We highly value the committment of the Allies to the security of the active Partner countries neighbouring Yugoslavia. We view this committment, officially confirmed at the highest level, as a clear political guarantee for our security. It is of paramount importance to us that solidarity is reciprocal and bringing us even closer to NATO.

The cooperation in the context of the Kosovo crisis gave a solid impulse to the partnership of NATO with Partner countries like Bulgaria. This interaction in a critical situation added qualitatively new dimensions to our partnership with the Alliance, which attest to the emergence of a new type of relationship, similar to the mutual responsibilities within the Alliance. This positive trend should be strengthened through further improvement of the political and legal basis for Partner-countries' cooperation with NATO.

At the same time, I would like to strongly emphasise that NATO's best response to present and future challenges to security is its enlargement to include the aspirants, that are in a position to give a concrete contribution to the solution of real problems and thus increase the defence potential of the Alliance. We are convinced that Bulgaria should be one of the front-runners among the next invitees.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The political logic of development of the Euro-Atlantic integration patterns as well as the present-day and future risks and challenges make it imperative that the current dynamics of the enlargement be preserved. Therefore, we believe that new invitations should be extended in April 1999 in Washington.

Nevertheless, we are realistic about the current state of the debate on the enlargement and the possible decisions to be made in that respect. However, it is our conviction that, in any case, the Summit should explicitly state that countries which have significantly advanced in their efforts to meet accession criteria, including Bulgaria, are well on the road to NATO membership.

We also expect that the Summit recognise the strategic benefit of its enlargement to the stable democracies of South-Eastern Europe. This recognition will effectively reinforce the positive trends in that region in contrast to the crisis developments in the Western Balkans.

At Washington, NATO should offer a qualitatively new mechanism of relationship with serious applicants like Bulgaria. We would welcome the adoption of a specifically designed "Membership Action Plan", which would focus NATO's co-operation with serious candidates on concrete activities to streamline and accelerate the pre-accession process.

Let me sum it up, Ladies and Gentlemen: We expect three major results from the Washington Summit:

  1. a clear membership perspective;
  2. a well-defined strategy to give substance to this perspective;
  3. a strong positive message that would further encourage the nations of the aspirant countries in their commitment to the radical reforms in the process of Euro-Atlantic integration.

Thank you.


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