BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR: WE WANT TO SUPPORT IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003252

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ BG
SUBJECT: BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR: WE WANT TO SUPPORT IRAQ

Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Bulgaria is proud of its service in the
Coalition and wants to remain engaged in Iraq, regardless of
the probable departure of its 155 troops from Iraq at the end
of the year, according to Bulgarian Ambassador Valeri
Ratchev. Ratchev, who has just begun a three week visit to
Baghdad, said the spirit of Bulgarian troops at Camp Cropper
is good, as is the level of cooperation with U.S.
counterparts. In a cordial meeting on October 2 with
Ambassador Crocker and General Odierno, Ratchev said Bulgaria
is interested in looking at other ways to contribute to
Iraq's development, including through the NATO Training
Mission (NTM-I),expanded trade, and investment in the energy
sector. He said a high-level Bulgarian delegation may come
to Iraq in December to mark the conclusion of Bulgaria's
military mission in Iraq and promised to coordinate with the
U.S. on specific dates. He also noted that Bulgaria has
invited a number of prominent Iraqi political and government
figures to Sofia and wanted to make sure the U.S. believed
this was helpful. Finally, Ratchev said that as efforts to
locate a suitable IZ location for its Embassy had not panned
out, Bulgaria will now begin renovating its existing Red Zone
embassy compound. End Summary.

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Visit to Camp Cropper, SOFA, NTM-I and
Bulgaria's Future Role
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2. (C) Ambassador Ratchev began by reporting on his visit
earlier in the day to Camp Cropper, where 155 Bulgarian
troops are stationed. He found the spirit of the troops
good, commended the excellent cooperation they have had with
U.S. counterparts, and said he would report to Sofia that
"all is going well." Looking ahead, he queried the
Ambassador and General Odierno on the role Bulgaria can play
in the future, given the expectation that a U.S.-Iraq
bilateral security agreement will be concluded by the end of
the year. The Ambassador outlined the current state of play
of the negotiations, noted that our negotiating team had just
returned to Baghdad, and that, while substantial progress has
been made, there are still some tough issues yet to be
resolved. As is the case with all such complex negotiations,
the Ambassador noted, nothing is agreed until everything is
agreed. He noted that while we fully expect various Iraqi
politicians to play the populist card and publicly criticize
any agreement reached, in the end, all of Iraq's communities
understand that the continued presence of U.S. forces is in
their interest.


3. (C) Turning to Ambassador Ratchev's question, General
Odierno said that, as the GOI had decided to reduce the
number of Coalition countries at the end of this year,
Bulgaria's role will need to change. Participation in NTM-I
would be a welcome and valuable contribution, and the GOI and
NATO are preparing a letter of agreement that would provide
the basis for Bulgaria and other NATO countries to continue
their support of Iraq's military development. Ratchev,
noting that he is a "great supporter" of the NTM-I concept,
said Bulgaria's one concern has been the dearth of Bulgarian
officers proficient in Arabic. Thus far, three officers with
the requisite language skills have been identified and work
continues to find/train more. He also noted that Bulgaria is
considering the idea of developing some type of military
training facility -- possibly as part of a broader "training
consortium" -- that could be of value to Iraqi officers. He
noted that a number of Iraqi Generals have conveyed to him
the value of training experiences in "middle level"
countries, such as Bulgaria, as a complement to the
experience officers gain in the U.S. General Odierno
responded that there is a definite appetite among Iraqis for
training and Bulgaria's ideas had potential.


4. (C) Given the strong probability that Bulgarian troops
will depart by year's end with the expiration of the UNSCR,
Ambassador Ratchev sought guidance on whether Bulgaria should
make any public statements on the subject at this time.
General Odierno counseled that it would be better to hold off
for now. While we fully expect to conclude a bilateral
security agreement by the end of the year, there is still a
slim chance the UNSCR could be renewed. If the latter were
to occur, we would want Bulgarian troops to remain. Thus, at
least for the time being, it would be better for Sofia not to
make public statements announcing the planned departure of
its troops until the situation is clearer.

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October Visit of Defense Minister Tsonev;
Possible High Level Delegation in December
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5. (C) Ratchev said that current plans are for Bulgarian
Defense Minister Tsonev to visit Iraq on October 21 (vice
October 18) and would include both a visit to Bulgarian
troops at Camp Cropper and a number of bilateral meetings
with GOI officials. Beyond that, Ratchev said that he
foresaw a subsequent visit in December by Tsonev, and perhaps
some other senior GOB officials, to mark officially the
conclusion of Bulgaria's on-the-ground role in the Coalition.
Given the Christmas holidays, he said such a ceremony would
best be scheduled for the first or second week of December.
Ambassador Crocker and General Odierno both agreed that this
would be an appropriate way to commemorate Bulgaria's
contribution and said we should work together to identify
specific dates.

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Possible Iraqi Visits to Sofia
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6. (C) Ratchev then noted that the GOB has invited a number
of senior Iraqi political figures to Sofia and he sought
Ambassador Crocker's and General Odierno's views on whether
this is helpful. He said invitations have been extended to
Speaker of the Parliament Mashadani; Humam Hammudi, head of
the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee; Hadi al-Amri,
head of the Badr Organization; Minister of Finance Jabur
al-Zubaidi; and Minister of Defense Mohammed Jasim
al-Aubaidi. He also noted that he has extended an invitation
to Foreign Minister Zebari to visit in October to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of Bulgarian-Iraqi diplomatic relations.



7. (C) Ambassador Crocker remarked that visits to countries,
like Bulgaria, that have recently gone through a transition
to democracy are of great value. The Ambassador noted that
Mashadani is a complex and sometimes difficult figure, but
one who has played a critical role in getting the Iraqi
Parliament to pass key legislation, most recently the
provincial elections law. The more he sees how democratic
nations operate, the better.

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Economic Opportunities
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8. (C) Ambassador Crocker said Bulgaria's decision to settle
Iraq's debt according to Paris Club terms was greatly
appreciated by the Iraqis and the U.S. He encouraged
Bulgaria to remain engaged in the International Compact for
Iraq (ICI) process. Bulgaria's historic economic ties to
Iraq gave it an especially valuable perspective. In
response, Ambassador Ratchev noted that Bulgaria sees Iraq as
important in a number of ways. First, he assessed that the
NABUCCO pipeline can only be economically viable if Iraq is
part of it. Second, he said Bulgaria is interested in
working with others in the EU to explore opportunities for
building electrical power plants in the country. Third, he
noted that a significant amount of Bulgarian exports go to
Iraq via Turkey. Some Bulgarian companies have expressed an
interest in establishing more direct linkages for fear of
eventually being locked out of future opportunities by
Turkish competitors who have deeper on-the-ground roots here.
Finally, he noted that during Saddam's time, current Iraqi
Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi headed an Iraqi-Bulgarian
Trading company. Al-Hashemi, he said, has expressed interest
in opportunities for bilateral commercial cooperation. The
Ambassador noted that this level of Bulgarian interest is
good, but also noted that Iraq remains a difficult business
environment. The more Bulgaria can do to encourage the GOI
to take measures to make Iraq more business-friendly, the
better.

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Bulgarian Embassy Site
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9. (C) Before the meeting concluded, Ambassador Ratchev
raised the issue of reopening a Bulgarian Embassy in Baghdad.
Ambassador Crocker confirmed that the earlier idea for
Bulgaria to take over the former Chief of Mission Residence
(CMR) is no longer on the table. The GOI, which, he noted,
is increasingly asserting sovereignty on a wide range of
matters, has made clear its intentions to use the property
for the office of Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh.
Ratchev expressed frustration with the GOI's inability to
provide him clear answers on this matter. Although
disappointed by the news, Ratchev said he then would begin
efforts to renovate Bulgaria's Red Zone compound which, he
noted, had once been one of Bulgaria's largest embassies in
the world ("bigger than even our embassy in Moscow"). He
requested U.S. assistance in assessing the security situation
at the compound which currently has only two Iraqi guards on

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the site. Ambassador Crocker and General Odierno responded
that we would be happy to have our security experts work with
him on this issue. In the interim, Ratchev noted that he
will continue covering Iraq as he has in the past -- based in
Sofia and staying at the Rasheed Hotel when he visits -- at
USD 350 night.
CROCKER