BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT DROPS "SILENT DIPLOMACY;"

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SOFIA 001695

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE MNORDBERG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM LBY BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT DROPS "SILENT DIPLOMACY;"
PUBLIC/POLITICIANS STEP UP OUTRAGE AGAINST LIBYA

Ref: (A) Tripoli 749, (B) Sofia 01683

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The death sentences passed by a Tripoli court on
five Bulgarian nurses Dec. 19 triggered mounting outrage in Bulgaria
as politicians, NGOs, the public and the press lashed out at Libya
for holding a deeply politicized trial and called for international
support. Over the course of December 19-20, Bulgarian officials
further hardened their stance, blasting Qadhafi's regime for
basically making a mockery of justice. Others accused Tripoli of
using the nurses as racketeering tools for gaining financial payout,
and holding them hostage as bargaining chips in Tripoli's power
games with the West. Politicians and media declared "the end of the
silent diplomacy era" and agreed that only increased pressure on
Libya can save the medics. The President, the Prime Minister and
the Speaker of Parliament sent a joint address to the leaders of EU
and NATO states, calling for their intervention in the case. Civic
groups organized rallies, politicians seem to be out-doing each
other in their indignation, and business called for a boycott of
Libya. To highlight the gravity of the issue, Bulgaria is mulling
curbing celebrations for its EU accession on New Year's eve. END
SUMMARY


2. (U) Bulgarian officials have further hardened their stance on the
Libyan HIV case in the two days following the Tripoli Criminal Court
decision to confirm the death sentences of the five Bulgarian nurses
and a Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately infecting more than
400 Libyan children with HIV. (Ref. A, B) In an unprecedented move,
President Georgi Parvanov, Parliament Speaker Georgi Pirinksi and PM
Sergei Stanishev sent a joint letter to the leaders of the EU and
NATO member states, the UN and the Council of Europe, calling for
their intervention to save the medics. They note the legal
omissions made by the Libyan Court, its refusal to consider the
opinions of leading scientists on HIV and AIDs, and the violations
of the nurses' human rights. "For eight years now, the Bulgarian
nurses and the Palestinian doctor have been denied justice. For
eight years now, they have been subjected to physical and
psychological coercion and have now reached the limit of human
endurance," Bulgaria's top statesmen said. Noting that Bulgaria
will join the EU on January 1, the three leaders called for a common
stand on the case, and urged "more active support" for the release
of the innocent nurses.


3. (U) President Parvanov talked late Dec. 19 to his French
Counterpart President Jacques Chirac. According to a press release
by the Bulgarian presidency, Chirac confirmed his conviction that
the Bulgarian nurses condemned in Libya are innocent. Chirac
expressed France's absolute solidarity and confirmed the readiness
of all EU member-states, including his country, to continue the
efforts for achieving a just solution to the case of the Bulgarian
medical nurses.


4. (U) Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin, talking to CNN, also called
for international support to save the medics, jailed in Libya since

1999. He said Bulgaria and the international community should do
their best to resolve the case and persuade Libya that the legal
mechanisms for solving this case have not been exhausted. His
deputy, Feim Chaushev, who met with the five nurses in Tripoli on
Dec. 20, told Bulgarian media that they felt abandoned and extremely
exhausted. He said the nurses feared that if they are released the
Libyans may infect them with the HIV virus out of revenge.


5. (U) Parliament Speaker Pirinski vowed that Bulgarian MPs would
use any opportunity to raise the issue about the nurses' fate in
parliamentary assemblies and parliamentary forums, urging other
countries to take a more categorical stand. He was backed by
ex-President Petar Stoyanov, the current leader of the main
opposition center-right group and a former advocate of restrained
actions and silent diplomacy, who said Bulgaria "should adopt a much
more categorical and firm tone in respect to Qadhafi's regime."
"The time for diplomacy is over, there is nothing to lose now," he
said.


6. (U) Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev reiterated that Bulgaria would
press charges against those who have tortured the nurses while in
Libyan prison, and ordered the National Investigation Service to
start working on the case. He admitted, however, that work on this
case will be a challenge since the investigators, at least for now,
won't be able to question either the nurses or the Libyan officers.


LIBYA "HOLDS THE NURSES HOSTAGE", "RACKETEERS FOR MONEY"
-------------- --------------


7. (U) Not surprisingly, the bluntest wording came from Sofia Mayor
Boiko Borissov, a populist who owes his persistent high approval
ratings largely to his plain and direct language. Borissov, who
launched his GERB political party only few weeks ago, said the
"nurses have been kidnapped" and "held as hostages by Libya." "They

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are being used as a tool for blackmailing the international
community for money," Borissov said, and called for "total isolation
of Libya." He blasted the Bulgarian authorities for their
unsuccessful efforts to resolve the case by using silent diplomacy,
and called on the government to cancel celebrations for Bulgaria's
entry into the EU. "We don't want to downplay the fact that we are
joining the large European family; we wish to alert the
Euro-Atlantic community that it is of the utmost importance that the
government, politicians, all institutions and civil society do the
impossible to help our compatriots," his GERB party said in a
statement. The Mayor said that on Christmas Eve, Sofia will switch
off street lights and decorations for five minutes as a sign of
compassion with the five medics. Former Foreign Minister Solomon
Passy cancelled a private party for his 50th birthday.


8. (U) Georgi Gatev, one of the medics' lawyers, also referred to
the nurses as "hostages" and was categorical that the Libyan courts
could not be trusted and "international pressure was the only
solution." The Bulgarian medics are hostages of Libya's power games
with the West and are being "used as bargaining chips for gaining
monetary compensation," he said. Bulgarian analysts following
Libya's domestic affairs commented on the political sensitivity of
the issue in the Arab state as Qadhafi struggled to appease the
infected children's families and avoid troubles in the Benghazi area
where he has traditionally enjoyed less popularity.

BULGARIANS SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH NURSES
--------------


9. (U) The shrillest and most bizarre proposal on how to resolve the
issue came from extreme nationalist Volen Siderov who called for
arresting five Libyan nationals in Bulgaria and exchanging them for
the nurses. Siderov urged the government to immediately halt
diplomatic ties with Libya and blasted the U.S. and the EU for
failing to help Bulgaria on the matter despite repeated pledges to
do so. Ataka supporters protested late Dec. 19 in front of the
Libyan embassy in Sofia. Doctors and nurses from hospitals across
the country protested against the sentences of their colleagues.
Protest rallies were held in many places in Bulgaria, although
attendance was moderate.


10. (U) The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry condemned the
death sentences. "Under the circumstances, the Chamber cannot
continue encouraging Bulgarian businesses to broaden their contacts
with Libya because the Chamber cannot assure Bulgarian companies
that their safety in Libya is guaranteed," the Chamber said. The
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, Bulgaria's biggest trade
union, urged Bulgarians working in Libya to leave the country.
"Their labor and human rights will find no protection there," the
union said in a statement. The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
expressed indignation as the nurses' death sentences were confirmed
in Libya and called on the Libyan authorities to release the
innocent victims.

PRESS HAILS BULGARIAN OFFICIALS' HARDENED STANCE
-------------- ---


11. (U) The press hailed Sofia's hardened stance on Libya and also
wrote that international actions now seemed the only solution.
"Bulgaria Assumes Firmer Position toward Libya after Sentences,"
"Shall We Let Them Be Killed?", "We Will Fight Until the End" were
some of the front-page headlines Dec. 20. "Only tough measures on
the part of the U.S. and Europe will startle Libya," the most widely
circulated newspaper Trud daily wrote. "The solution is in a sharp,
quick and open attack. On Jan. 1, as a fully-fledged EU member,
Bulgaria should demand a European economic and diplomatic blockade
of Libya." "The era of silent diplomacy is over," declared the 24
Chasa daily, saying the government should not have wasted so much
time trying to appease Libya. Commentators called on Bulgaria's
allies -- the EU and the U.S. -- to increase the pressure on
Tripoli. But some noted that while trying to help Bulgaria, both
the EU and the U.S. have started to revive ties with Libya due to
their economic interests in the oil-rich Arab state.


12. (U) Local media reported extensively on Secretary Rice's Dec. 19
meeting with Foreign Minister Kalfin. All local media quoted the
Embassy statement, released Dec. 20, in which the Ambassador
expressed deep disappointment about the verdict of the Libyan Court
and vowed the U.S. would continue to work for the medics' release.
Local media also noted that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov had
appealed for the medics' release, and European Parliament President
Josep Borell called on the Libyan authorities to reconsider the
death verdict. Several media outlets have unfavorably compared
tough European and Russian reactions to U.S. statements.


13. (SBU) COMMENT: Bulgaria's stance on the case has continued to
harden since the confirmation of the death sentences, with even
moderate politicians increasingly using harsh language to blast

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Libya. Much of it comes from emotion and frustration, not tactical
political/diplomatic considerations. Issues such as Libya's
politicized trial and the duress of the five nurses, that until
recently had been off-limits for official statements on the case,
are now exploited freely in Sofia's mounting campaign for
international intervention. Although some of the maneuvering is
clearly political one-upsmanship, the Bulgarian leaders want to send
a clear signal to Libya, the EU and the world about how seriously
Bulgaria takes this issue. We can expect greater Bulgarian
activism, especially in the EU, in 2007 if the issue drags on. END
COMMENT
KARAGIANNIS