BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR: BULGARIA MIGHT BACK AZERBAIJANS INTEGRATION TO EU
Author: S. Aghayeva
TREND Informationa, Azerbaijan
Nov 21 2006
Trend’s exclusive interview with Ivan Palchev, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to Azerbaijan on the threshold of
the visit of the Bulgarian Speaker to Azerbaijan
– Georgiy Pirinsky, Bulgaria Speaker is expected to pay an official
visit to Azerbaijan this week. Which issues will be the priority in
the agenda of the forthcoming negotiations with the Azerbaijani party
within the above-mentioned visit?
– Chairman of the Bulgarian People Assembly will arrive in Baku on
November 22 to take part in the sitting of the General Assembly of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation. During the forthcoming meeting, the chair of
the Organization will be passed to Bulgaria. As soon as the sitting
of the Organization is completed, on November 24-25, the official
visit of the Bulgarian Speaker to Azerbaijan will be commenced.
The Bulgarian Speaker will be accompanied by representative delegation
consisting of members of all fractions of the Bulgarian Parliament
and the Government of the Country. The agenda of the visit includes
meetings with the Azerbaijani Speaker Ogtay Assadov, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov, Premier-Minister Artur Rasizadeh, and certainly
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The Bulgarian Speaker will
also visit the Baku Slavic University, where he will get acquainted
with the activity of the Bulgarian Culture Centre, as well as meet
students and pedagogical staff of the University.
Bulgaria is a parliamentary state. The supreme authority of the
Country is the Parliament. All the other bodies of authority submit
to the Parliament. Being the Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Mr.
Pirinsky has wide authorities, and he is about to discuss the wide
spectrum of different issues on both the bilateral and regional
cooperation, as well as cooperation of an international nature with
the Azerbaijani party.
– Bulgaria joins EU starting January 1, 2007. Which role that could
play in Bulgaria bilateral relations with Azerbaijan?
– It is true that Bulgaria will join EU starting from Janury, 2007.
According to EU requirements, all the member-states of the
Organization should unify their legislation in accordance with the
EU requirements. The contract and legal base between Azerbaijan and
Bulgaria today consists of 28 documents which will be reviewed once
more and unified to meet the EU requirements and standards. At the
same time, a new package of agreements of a bilateral nature is being
worked out. It is expected to cover different spheres of cooperation..
Being the Ambassador, I am quite satisfied with the development of
political contacts. For three years of the activity of the Bulgarian
Embassy to Azerbaijan, all possible visits at a level of Ministers
and Chiefs of Bodies, Speakers, and Presidents have been paid.
However, economic relations between our countries do not completely
meet the existing potential of the two countries. The commodity
turnover between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan reached just $6-8 mln. last
year.
I have had a lot contacts with businessmen of the both countries,
invited them, gave them advises, but their interest to business was
of curious tourists. However, that will have its reasons. First of
all, the lack of direct air flights between Baku and Sofia impedes
developing the mutual relations. There are intentions to establish a
new charter air flight – Baku-Varna in the next year, and to attempt
to develop tourism. I hope that the mutual skepticism that is now
connected with Bulgaria joining EU will act in the reverse direction
and make businessmen of the two countries to mutually cooperate.
– How could you estimate perspectives of cooperation between Bulgaria
and Azerbaijan in energy field? Which perspective directions of this
cooperation could you mark?
– For about 12 years, Bulgaria, Russia, and Greece have held
negotiations on constructing oil pipeline "Burgas-Aleksandrupolis".
Finally, a month ago, the three Presidents met and signed the
corresponding document. Not only Russia oil but also Azerbaijani
one, which is carried via the Russian territory through oil
pipeline "Baku-Novorossiysk" will connect to the pipeline. At
present, a project on transporting gas from Erzurum via route
Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria is being worked out. The
construction of a pipeline is expected to be launched in the next
year. And I think that by 2011, the gas will reach Bulgaria.
– What is Bulgaria’s position toward the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
– Bulgaria position toward the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remains
unchanged. The most important in this position is that Bulgaria adheres
the thesis that Nagorno-Karabakh will always be a part of Azerbaijan,
and , as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have repeatedly stated
this territory may obtain the highest autonomy, but only within the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. And I think the conflicting
parties themselves are gradually trending to this position.