JP/3/

JP/3/

Bulgaria offers defense cooperation, but under strict
control

(This is not a direct quotation)

On the sidelines of his four-day visit to Indonesia,
due to be completed on Monday, Bulgarian President Georgi
Parvanov shared his views about Bulgaria's transition from a
communist country into a democratic state and about defense
cooperation with Indonesia. The following is an excerpt of his
interview with The Jakarta Post's Kornelius Purba and Oei Eng
Goan.

Question: Both Bulgaria and Indonesia share some similar
experience in undertaking reform, following the fall
of the communist regime in Bulgaria and of Soeharto here. Could
you share with us your country's experience of the transition
period?

Answer: There was a consensus in Bulgaria on the need to
create democratic change and to develop the country
as a market economy. As results of our efforts, although we
have a number of difficulties, we have carried out
a series of transitions and, as a result, we have
now established a democracy with stable democratic
institutions, and a stable political situation and
market economy. First of all, the reforms will allow us
to complete negotiations with the European Union (EU) in
2004 and soon afterwards to join the EU as a full member.

How about the military role there; does it remain strong
as has happened here?

I couldn't possibly comment on the affairs of a country
in which I am a guest, and on such a specific, sensitive
issue. But I can refer to the Bulgarian experience. Bulgaria
undertook a serious reform of its armed forces, introducing civil
control of the army and modernizing it, bringing it up to
European standards.

Many people in the former Soviet Union satellite
countries can no longer enjoy the privileges and
benefits they used to have under the Communist era.
What is your comment?

It is possible, I would say, that a certain
proportion of the people feel some social nostalgia for the past.
But it is by no means political nostalgia -- a desire to return
to the political system of the past, at the cost of gross human
rights abuse. The vast majority of people in Bulgaria realize
that no way will there be a return to the system of the past.

They approved the new task, which needs to be followed up, in
achieving a more active development of Bulgarian production and
better redistribution of social necessities, in the name of
social justice. I believe that the state should find the
resources to assist socially vulnerable people because that is
the way for them to be properly integrated into society.

Islam is a minority religion in predominantly Christian
Bulgaria, while in Indonesia it is the other way round. As a
friend of Indonesia, what suggestions can you give to
us with regard to protecting the minority?

I am very cautious when it comes to giving
advice (to a foreign country) ... on ethnic problems
Bulgaria has indeed gone through some very difficult stages with
regard to ethnic issues, but now it is a success story, and it is
based on a very effective model for achieving coexistence between
various ethnic and religious groups. This is a successful example
in Europe.

This kind of coexistence is particularly evident on a day-to-
day basis in their everyday lives, in which Christians and
Muslims help each other. The best example is the way they build
their places of worship: For instance, Muslims help Christians to
build their churches, and vice versa. On the other hand,
functionally they (Muslims) are also well represented, both in
the government and in parliament, and in the office of the
president.

Muslim parties are in the government coalition. You can find
them everywhere within the government and in key positions. In my
own delegation there is a Bulgarian mosque mufti, and the
minister of agriculture is also a Muslim.

Will the inclusion of Bulgaria into the EU benefit
all?

Bulgaria has gone a long way toward integration with the EU.
We
have consistently been successful in meeting EU requirements, the
political criteria, for the democratization of political life,
and certain requirements for the judicial system. The great
difficulty, however, the great obstacle, as you
said, lies within the economic arena, in adapting the Bulgarian
economy to the requirements of the EU.

But here too, we have made progress with some of the economic
chapters already. We are currently in the final stages of
harmonizing our legislation to that of the EU, which is indeed
no small task.

In 1998, Soeharto failed to follow Bulgaria's policy,
which pegs its Leva -- is that correct? currency to the U.S.
dollar. What are the merits and demerits of the currency board
policy?

The currency board proved to be very effective, if implemented
a little bit too late. The introduction of the currency board
arrangement involved pegging to the German mark. It has brought
about a stabilization, both in the country and in a major
indicator, such as a steady, low inflation rate.

By and large, all macroeconomic indicators have
been stable and sustainable; the growth rate has been capped at 5
percent for several years now, and investment has been relatively
good, considering the international economic downturn and
difficulties in the world economy. In other words, the economic
indicators are good enough to attract and guarantee foreign
investment
in Bulgaria.

What results, including with the defense field, did you
achieve from your meeting with President Megawati?

I will begin by the joint declaration, which sets out the
political framework for our bilateral relations in years to come.
The agreement signed on the promotion of trade and investment is
particularly crucial for promoting trade and encouraging
investment.

Bulgaria came up with some specific offers, such as in the
field of energy production, where Bulgaria has experience. But we
also have serious problems in this area. You have rich coal
reserves that could be used for our power generation.
The other areas that were discussed were agriculture and the food
industry.

And why not defense? However, I would like to emphasize here
that whatever we do in this area should be under very strict
control, in compliance with the very strict controls on arms and
trading in arms for due use, for due purposes.
due