BULGARIA: DRAFT WMD AGREEMENT DELIVERED

UNCLAS SOFIA 000620 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR L (THORNTON),ISN, AND EUR/NCE (NORDBERG) DOD FOR OSD/POLICY (REID) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PARM EUN BU SUBJECT: BULGARIA: DRAFT WMD AGREEMENT DELIVERED REF: SECDEF DTG 162117Z MAY 07 ¶1. This is a guidance request. Please see paragraph 3. ¶2. We delivered reftel draft to MFA International Security Director Petio Petev and Deputy Interior Minister Boiko Kotsev on May 18. Both stated their support in principle for the agreement and undertook to review the draft quickly. Petev told us that the Ministry of Interior would take the lead in shepherding the agreement through the Bulgarian interagency. Kotsev, meanwhile, said that the main obstacle would be the MFA's concerns regarding privileges and immunities. According to him, Bulgaria would find itself in hot water with Brussels if it granted to the U.S. privileges and immunities that it does not accord to fellow EU member states, as envisaged (he claimed) in the draft WMD Agreement. ¶3. Post would appreciate guidance from Washington colleagues on how the issue of EU reciprocity was handled in WMD Agreements with EU member states such as Romania, Slovenia and the Baltics . Karagiannis