Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SOFIA422
2009-07-31 14:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Sofia
Cable title:
BULGARIA: NEW FOREIGN MINISTER SETS NEW COURSE;
how-toVZCZCXRO1287 OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR DE RUEHSF #0422 2121453 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 311453Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6219 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
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).
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
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