BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER RESHUFFLES CABINET ON

UNCLAS SOFIA 000333

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

S/ES PLEASE REPEAT SECTO
USNATO PLEASE PASS TO SECRETARY'S PARTY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ETRD BU NATO
SUBJECT: BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER RESHUFFLES CABINET ON
EVE OF NATO SUMMIT

REF: SOFIA 0288


1. (SBU) Summary. As he departed for Brussels on
February 21, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha
sacked three cabinet ministers, including his
influential Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Economy, Lydia Shuleva. Shuleva's departure was
expected in the wake of last week's confidence vote,
which the government survived after cutting a deal with
the break-away New Time party (reftel). New Time
reportedly demanded Shuleva's ouster and at least one
cabinet position; it got both. Energy Minister
Kovachev will take Shuleva's place as head of the
Economy Ministry, and New Time leader Miro Sevlievski
will get the Energy Ministry. The cabinet reshuffle is
part of a pre-election domestic political drama; we see
no significant implications for Bulgarian foreign or
security policy. End summary.


2. (SBU) In addition to Shuleva, the PM also fired the
very unpopular Minister of Culture, Bozhidar Abrashev,
and the Minister of Agriculture, Mehmed Dikme.
Abrashev had been vying with Regional Development
Minister Tserovski for the unofficial title of the
cabinet's worst minister, and he will not be missed
domestically or internationally. Dikme's record was
also mixed, but his greatest sin appears to have been
his refusal to tow the line of his patron, the leader
of the mostly ethnic-Turkish Movement for Rights and
Freedoms (MRF). Nihat Kabil, an MRF member who was
formerly Dikme's deputy and will now be the new
agriculture minister, is reportedly less likely to
question the policies of the government's junior
coalition partner. Nina Chilova, a releative non-
entity, will head the Ministry of Culture, which also
takes over the tourism portfolio from the Ministry of
Economy. As consolation for losing her cabinet
position, Shuleva will head the ruling party's
reelection campaign. All cabinet changes must be
approved by parliament, where they government now has a
comfortable majority.


3. (SBU) Comment. This cabinet reshuffle is a quidpro
quo for New Time's decision to support the gvernment
in last week's vote of confidence. We ee no
substantive changes in Bulgarian foreign policy -- and
certainly none with regard to Iraq --as a result of
this reshuffling of personnel. T the extend there is
an impact on U.S. interests it comes from the loss of
Shuleva, one of the mst forceful members of the
cabinet. Shuleva, howver, has not always been easy to
work with, so i is unclear whether her departure will
be a plus or a minus for U.S. interests. The main
issues on which we deal with the Ministry of Economy
are trade policy, protection of intellectual property,
and arms export controls.