MILITARY BASING: MEDIA BATTLE SHIFTS IN THE RIGHT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000482

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2016
TAGS: MARR PGOV PREL KPAO BU
SUBJECT: MILITARY BASING: MEDIA BATTLE SHIFTS IN THE RIGHT
DIRECTION

REF: SOFIA 0454

Classified By: Ambassador John Beyrle for reasons 1.4 a and d.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. After the March 24 announcement (reftel)
that the U.S. and Bulgaria had reached agreement on text for
the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA),Bulgarian officials
at all levels have come out in support of the agreement.
Continuing Embassy public diplomacy efforts, combined with
this official support, has resulted in greatly improved press
coverage. We continue to monitor all public statements
closely to ensure they reflect agreed language. END SUMMARY.

Bulgarian Officials and Media "On Message"...
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2. (SBU) Following agreement on text for the Defense
Cooperation Agreement (DCA) which was announced on March 24
(reftel),Bulgarian officials at the national, regional, and
local levels are now speaking out more frequently in favor of
the agreement. Since the announcement, there has been a
noticeable increase in favorable press coverage regarding the
proposed U.S. presence at Bulgarian military facilities. In
a major shift, Trud, the largest circulation Bulgarian daily
newspaper, has come out in support of the agreement.


3. (SBU) As part of the Embassy's ongoing public affairs
outreach program, the Ambassador met with local officials of
municipalities located near the Novo Selo Training Area and
Bezmer Air Base March 6-8 to brief them on the agreement.
Some of these mayors and regional governors have replayed the
positive, factual information from these briefings in press
interviews with national news organizations--sometimes
virtually verbatim.


4. (SBU) In a national radio interview March 26, Georgi
Georgiev, mayor of the municipality of Tundzha, said, "There
will be no U.S. military bases in Bulgaria." After taking
the opportunity to correctly point out that these will be
joint bases, the mayor went on to highlight the economic
benefits of the bases while downplaying fears of terrorist
attacks, pollution, and nuclear weapons.

...While Opponents Beat the Drum
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5. (U) On March 22, the ultra-nationalist Ataka party began a
petition campaign against the agreement with the goal of
collecting 500,000 signatures and 60 votes in Parliament to
force a national referendum on the DCA. Under Bulgarian law,
national referenda can only be ordered by the President, the
Council of Ministers, or a vote by one quarter of
Parliament--60 out 240 votes. With only 14 seats in
Parliament and no other parties sympathetic to the referendum
campaign, Ataka's chances for success are remote. Ataka
leader Volen Siderov told Bulgarian television April 4 that a
copy of the petition would be delivered to the U.S. Embassy
in Sofia and that "we are drawing up a letter to the U.S.
Congress to inform them of the real public attitudes
regarding the deployment of military bases in this country."


6. (C) COMMENT. Now that they have seen the agreed text,
Bulgarian government and military officials are publicly
promoting the benefits and dispelling the myths that grew up
around the agreement. In the aftermath of Ataka's failure to
derail the negotiations, its petition campaign is designed as
much to retain visibility for the party as to scuttle the
agreement, recognizing that the ruling coalition easily has
enough votes to approve. We continue to monitor all public
statements closely to ensure they reflect agreed language.
END COMMENT.
Beyrle