BULGARIA: NEW FOREIGN MINISTER SETS NEW COURSE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000422 SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO EUR/NCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV BU SUBJECT: BULGARIA: NEW FOREIGN MINISTER SETS NEW COURSE; SEEKS U.S. SUPPORT Classified By: CDA Susan Sutton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is an action message. Please see para 5. ¶2. (C) New Foreign Minister Rumiana Zheleva invited DCM and POLEC Chief as her first official visitors to the ministry on 7/28, her first full day on the job. During the brief meeting, she emphasized her desire to show the world that Bulgaria had turned a new page. She rejected the idea that Bulgaria was destined to suffer from endemic corruption, and insisted that her country was ready to work with the EU, the U.S. and others to effect necessary changes. "I am a convinced European," she told us, and she intends to mend Bulgaria's relations with the EU. At the same time, she was sober about the difficulties that lay ahead. ¶3. (C) Zheleva reviewed some of her initial thoughts on the course she would set for her ministry. While her eyes are clearly fixed on Brussels, she said she hoped to pay more attention to Bulgaria's neighbors, and to look for ways to play a positive role in the region. She pointed out that Bulgaria, as a NATO and EU member, has useful experience to share with other countries in the region. ¶4. (C) Zheleva made a heartfelt appeal for U.S. support in the new government's efforts to put Bulgaria back on the right path. She asked for a White House meeting for new Prime Minister Borissov soon, saying that a show of support for the new government's anti-corruption efforts and pro-Western policies would help them achieve their goals. ¶5. (C) Action request: We support the request for a meeting with the President for PM Borissov. Even under the previous government, Bulgaria looked to us for leadership and has been a solid ally, providing access to bases, troops for Iraq and Afghanistan, and helpful diplomacy on Kosovo and Black Sea problems. Now, with a big public mandate and pro-Western agenda, Borissov leads a team ready to root out Bulgaria's debilitating corruption and bring state institutions up to EU standards. A meeting with the President would give his new government and the Bulgarian people a big and important boost. SSUTTON