BULGARIA: MFA DOWN BEAT ON AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000985 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2017 TAGS: NATO PINS PREL MARR MOPS SNAR AF BU SUBJECT: BULGARIA: MFA DOWN BEAT ON AFGHANISTAN REF: STATE 110089 Classified By: CDA Alex Karagiannis, for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) On August 9, Pol/Econ Chief delivered reftel points and a copy of the new Afghanistan Counter-Narcotics Strategy to MFA Afghanistan desk officer Ivan Petkov. Petkov expressed the difficulties of weaning Afghan farmers off opium poppies. He said Bulgaria, partnering with Germany, had imported 300,000 rose bushes to Afghanistan to encourage farmers to produce rose oil instead of poppies. This program was unsuccessful because of the difficulties training rural farmers, often in unsafe locations, and because it takes three to four years before the first oil can be harvested. Petkov, who had previously served in Pakistan, voiced his suspicion that the Taliban is not funding insurgency operations from narcotics revenue, but is instead getting money from Saudi Arabia and money and fighters from Pakistan and Kashmir. Generally pessimistic, he believes Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan will soon merge into a "Pashtunistan." ¶2. (C) We report for the record Petkov's observations below. He clearly has not been fully briefed or updated on Bulgarian policy. His personal opinion varies from what we consistently hear from senior MFA and MOD officials as well as from the Prime Ministry and Presidency. His somber views, though, are indicative of the public mood. ¶3. (C) Petkov had not heard that the Bulgarian MOD is considering sending an additional 50 soldiers to Kandahar to man the entry control point at the airport (note: Bulgaria is already providing 200 troops for airport security). He is against taking on this mission. He argued that the Bulgarian military is already stretched with its Iraq and Afghanistan deploments, does not have the training or equipment for this mission, and would risk taking casualties if it manned the airport gate. Petkov admitted it is not fair to expect the U.S. and Canada to handle every dangerous mission, but said public opinion in Bulgaria would turn against NATO if Bulgaria took casualties in Afghanistan. He argued that Bulgarians, having grown up with anti-NATO propaganda, needed several more years to grow comfortable with their NATO membership. However, he thought the Minister of Defense would approve the mission. (Comment: We are confident the mission will be approved). Karagiannis