[06SOFIA579] YOUR MEETING MAY 4 WITH BULGARIAN PRESIDENT PURVANOV

Published by Wikileaks & Bivol.bg

 date: 4/25/2006 12:57 refid: 06SOFIA579 origin: Embassy Sofia classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination:  header: VZCZCXRO3881 OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHSF #0579/01 1151257 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 251257Z APR 06 FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1799 INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY  ----------------- header ends ----------------  C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 000579    SIPDIS    SIPDIS    FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT FROM AMBASSADOR BEYRLE    E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016  TAGS: PREL, MARR, EUN, LY, IZ, BG  SUBJECT: YOUR MEETING MAY 4 WITH BULGARIAN PRESIDENT  PURVANOV      Classified By: Ambassador John Beyrle, reasons 1.4(b) and (d).    1. (C) Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov, whom you will  meet May 4 in Vilnius, Lithuania, has played a key role in  ensuring the continuity of this country's pro-U.S. foreign  policy through three administrations in Sofia.  By any  measure -- percentage of GDP spent on deployments abroad,  number of soldiers serving in combat missions, or military  personnel and civilians killed in Iraq -- Bulgaria is making  a substantial contribution to international security relative  to its size and resources.  Now we can also add the Defense  Cooperation Agreement (DCA) that Secretary Rice will sign in  Sofia April 28, which gives the U.S. access to two air bases  and an army training area as part of the brigade-sized  Eastern European Task Force.  The long-awaited agreement is a  milestone in our relations with this consistently reliable  ally.  President Purvanov's support for the agreement has  been essential.    2. (C) Bulgaria is in Iraq and Afghanistan largely because it  shares our interest in stability there, but Purvanov-- who  faces reelection in the fall-- wants to be able to show  voters that Bulgaria benefits from its strong support for the  U.S.  It is important that he hear from you that Bulgaria is  a valued and equal partner, not just in the security sphere,  but across the entire spectrum of our relationship.  President Bush said as much when he met Purvanov in the White  House in October 2005, and the picture now, after the basing  agreement and new Iraq deployment, looks even better.    3. (C) The DCA negotiations have been the subject of  widespread -- and more often than not, inaccurate -- coverage  in the local news media.  Many Bulgarians oppose the idea of  "foreign bases" on their soil, fear the United States will  use Bulgaria as a launching pad to attack Iran, or believe  that the U.S. presence will make Bulgaria a target for  terrorists.  Polls show that the more people learn about the  proposed U.S. presence, the less they oppose it, but  Bulgarian officials -- including Purvanov -- need to do more  to explain the agreement to the public.    4. (C) The DCA comes on the heels of a government decision to  send troops back to Iraq (after campaigning last year on a  platform of immediate withdrawal), and coincides with the  ramping up of its presence in Afghanistan, where Bulgaria  will soon take over security for Kabul airport.  Consequently, the government is seeking to shift some of the  focus of public discussion away from the military aspects of  our relationship and toward the political and economic.  Here  too, we have a good story to tell.  Huge U.S. investments are  in the pipeline, including a 1.4 billion dollar clean-coal  power plant built by AES and a Hewlett-Packard call-service  center that will create some 1000 knowledge-based jobs.  We  still lag behind our EU partners in terms of direct foreign  investment, but Purvanov should hear that we will not be  satisfied until our investment and trade relations match the  high level of our security cooperation.    5. (C) The current government is understandably focused on  getting into the EU on time, which means January 1, 2007.  We  support this goal.  Brussels is sending mixed signals, in  part to keep Bulgaria's feet to the fire on reform.  Current  thinking appears to be that Bulgaria will join the Union as  scheduled, but with at least a Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)  safeguard clause and continued EU monitoring in that area.  The Bulgarians are concerned by rumors the EU may be  designing additional monitoring mechanisms for Bulgaria even  after accession that could affect the flow of structural  funds.  President Purvanov has just sent a plea to President  Bush asking for a personal expression of support for  Bulgaria's on-time EU accession.  He will likely reiterate  this request in his meeting with you.    6. (C) Bulgaria's problems with Brussels are primarily in the  area of rule of law.  Passivity in the face of corruption and  organized crime has been the weak point not only in this  government's record, but its predecessors' as well.  This may  be starting to change under pressure from the EU and with the  appointment of a respected new Chief Prosecutor, a protege of  Purvanov's.  However, Purvanov should understand that there  is no daylight between the U.S. and the EU on this issue:  corruption and organized crime are his country's Achilles'  heel.      SOFIA 00000579  002 OF 002      7. (C) In the longer term, we should encourage Bulgaria to  wean itself from over-dependence on Russian energy.  Bulgaria  buys 88 percent of its gas and 73 percent of its oil from  Russia, resulting as well in a huge bilateral trade deficit.  This dependency is difficult to break, however, in part  because Bulgaria is paying 35 percent below market prices for  its gas, affording Moscow significant potential leverage.  Helping Bulgaria to avoid putting all its eggs in one basket  is a long-term project; moving toward market pricing is a  shorter-term tactic.    8. (C) Purvanov will be pleased if you assure him, as the  President did in October, that we are working hard to secure  the release of the five nurses unjustly imprisoned in Libya  since 1999 for allegedly spreading the HIV virus.  The fate  of the nurses touches ordinary Bulgarians in the same way the  Iran hostage crisis touched ordinary Americans, and Purvanov  has been personally involved in discussions with Qadhafi to  obtain their release.  Finally, you may want to privately  encourage Bulgaria to continue to play a constructive role on  the margins of the Kosovo final status talks by helping to  build confidence between the two sides.  On that issue, the  government seems to accept that Kosovo will gain its  independence, but is concerned about a possible spill-over  effect, especially in neighboring Macedonia.  Beyrle 

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