Bulgaria offers defense cooperation, cautiously<\/p>\n
On the sidelines of his four-day visit to Indonesia,
\ndue to be completed on Monday, Bulgarian President Georgi
\nParvanov shared his views about Bulgaria's transition from a
\ncommunist country into a democratic state and about defense
\ncooperation with Indonesia. The following is an excerpt of his
\ninterview with The Jakarta Post's Kornelius Purba and Oei Eng
\nGoan.<\/p>\n
Question: Both Bulgaria and Indonesia share some similar
\nexperience in undertaking reform, following the fall of the
\ncommunist regime in Bulgaria and of Soeharto here. Could you
\nshare with us your country's experience of the transition period?<\/p>\n
Answer: There was a consensus in Bulgaria on the need to
\ncreate democratic change and to develop the country as a market
\neconomy. As results of our efforts, although we have a number of
\ndifficulties, we have carried out a series of transitions and, as
\na result, we have now established a democracy with stable
\ndemocratic institutions, and a stable political situation and
\nmarket economy. First of all, the reforms will allow us to
\ncomplete negotiations with the European Union (EU) in 2004 and
\nsoon afterwards to join the EU as a full member.<\/p>\n
How about the military role there; does it remain strong as
\nhas happened here?<\/p>\n
I couldn't possibly comment on the affairs of a country in
\nwhich I am a guest, and on such a specific, sensitive issue. But
\nI can refer to the Bulgarian experience. Bulgaria undertook a
\nserious reform of its armed forces, introducing civil control of
\nthe army and modernizing it, bringing it up to European
\nstandards.<\/p>\n
Many people in the former Soviet Union satellite countries
\ncan no longer enjoy the privileges and benefits they used to have
\nunder the Communist era. What is your comment?<\/p>\n
It is possible, I would say, that a certain proportion of the
\npeople feel some social nostalgia for the past. But it is by no
\nmeans political nostalgia -- a desire to return to the political
\nsystem of the past, at the cost of gross human rights abuse. The
\nvast majority of people in Bulgaria realize that no way will
\nthere be a return to the system of the past.<\/p>\n
They approved the new task, which needs to be followed up, in
\nachieving a more active development of Bulgarian production and
\nbetter redistribution of social necessities, in the name of
\nsocial justice. I believe that the state should find the
\nresources to assist socially vulnerable people because that is
\nthe way for them to be properly integrated into society.<\/p>\n
Islam is a minority religion in predominantly Christian
\nBulgaria, while in Indonesia it is the other way round. As a
\nfriend of Indonesia, what suggestions can you give to us with
\nregard to protecting the minority?<\/p>\n
I am very cautious when it comes to giving advice (to a
\nforeign country) ... on ethnic problems Bulgaria has indeed gone
\nthrough some very difficult stages with regard to ethnic issues,
\nbut now it is a success story, and it is based on a very
\neffective model for achieving coexistence between various ethnic
\nand religious groups. This is a successful example in Europe.<\/p>\n
This kind of coexistence is particularly evident on a day-to-
\nday basis in their everyday lives, in which Christians and
\nMuslims help each other. The best example is the way they build
\ntheir places of worship: For instance, Muslims help Christians to
\nbuild their churches, and vice versa. On the other hand,
\nfunctionally they (Muslims) are also well represented, both in
\nthe government and in parliament, and in the office of the
\npresident.<\/p>\n
Muslim parties are in the government coalition. You can find
\nthem everywhere within the government and in key positions. In my
\nown delegation there is a Bulgarian mosque mufti, and the
\nminister of agriculture is also a Muslim.<\/p>\n
Will the inclusion of Bulgaria into the EU benefit all?<\/p>\n
Bulgaria has gone a long way toward integration with the EU.
\nWe have consistently been successful in meeting EU requirements,
\nthe political criteria, for the democratization of political
\nlife, and certain requirements for the judicial system. The great
\ndifficulty, however, the great obstacle, as you said, lies within
\nthe economic arena, in adapting the Bulgarian economy to the
\nrequirements of the EU.<\/p>\n
But here too, we have made progress with some of the economic
\nchapters already. We are currently in the final stages of
\nharmonizing our legislation to that of the EU, which is indeed no
\nsmall task.<\/p>\n
In 1998, Soeharto failed to follow Bulgaria's policy, which
\npegs its Leva -- is that correct? currency to the U.S. dollar.
\nWhat are the merits and demerits of the currency board policy?<\/p>\n
The currency board proved to be very effective, if implemented
\na little bit too late. The introduction of the currency board
\narrangement involved pegging to the German mark. It has brought
\nabout a stabilization, both in the country and in a major
\nindicator, such as a steady, low inflation rate.<\/p>\n
By and large, all macroeconomic indicators have been stable
\nand sustainable; the growth rate has been capped at 5 percent for
\nseveral years now, and investment has been relatively good,
\nconsidering the international economic downturn and difficulties
\nin the world economy. In other words, the economic indicators are
\ngood enough to attract and guarantee foreign investment in
\nBulgaria.<\/p>\n
What results, including with the defense field, did you
\nachieve from your meeting with President Megawati?<\/p>\n
I will begin by the joint declaration, which sets out the
\npolitical framework for our bilateral relations in years to come.
\nThe agreement signed on the promotion of trade and investment is
\nparticularly crucial for promoting trade and encouraging
\ninvestment.<\/p>\n
Bulgaria came up with some specific offers, such as in the
\nfield of energy production, where Bulgaria has experience. But we
\nalso have serious problems in this area. You have rich coal
\nreserves that could be used for our power generation. The other
\nareas that were discussed were agriculture and the food industry.<\/p>\n
And why not defense? However, I would like to emphasize here
\nthat whatever we do in this area should be under very strict
\ncontrol, in compliance with the very strict controls on arms and
\ntrading in arms for due use, for due purposes.<\/p>",
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