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The main principles of the Bulgarian
foreign policy in the forthcoming years will be continuity
in defining the international priorities and strategic
orientation of our country, responsibility to the citizens
of Bulgaria and to our allies and partners. We will aim at
transparency and predictability in decision making and
implementation of foreign policy, and apply a balanced
approach in foreign policy activities and initiatives.
For Bulgaria foreign
policy priority No. 1 is to ensure full membership of
our country in the European Union from 1 January
2007. The efforts of all authorities at all government
levels will be mobilized to ensure the fulfilment of the
commitments, undertaken in the negotiation process, and the
successful ratification by EU Member States of the Accession
Treaty, signed on 25 April 2005 and ratified by the
Bulgarian National Assembly on 11 May 2005. Upon accession
to the EU, we will work actively to join the European
Economic and Monetary Union (the so called Eurozone) and the
Schengen Agreement. Our country will participate actively in
the implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy
and the European Security and Defence Policy, including
through Bulgarian representatives in the EU External
Relations Office, after it will be established.
As a NATO member, Bulgaria will
continue its efforts towards adequate and effective
involvement in the policy and decision making process of the
North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation
and for the successful integration
of the national interests in the process. Our country will
work to make an appropriate Bulgarian contribution in
improving and developing NATO capabilities to counteract
terrorism and the other new security threats and challenges.
Bulgaria will assist in furthering and expanding the scope
of cooperation and strategic partnership between the EU and
NATO in order to implement efficient joint actions and
common approaches in combating terrorism and in other key
security issues.
As a NATO member country and a
forthcoming EU member, Bulgaria
will actively participate in the activities of the UN
as a leading universal international organisation, including
in its reform in order to enhance its efficiency. Bulgaria
will assist in the adaptation of the OSCE to the new
realities and in strengthening the role of the organisation
as a tool to address security and cooperation issues in the
Northern hemisphere. We will actively work to enhance the
role of economic diplomacy by using the potential of such
international economic organisations as WTO, OECD and
CEFTA. Our country will contribute for strengthening
democratic and humanitarian values through the mechanisms of
the Council of Europe.
Among the key priorities of Bulgarian
foreign policy are the protection of human rights and
fundamental freedoms and the observance of the generally
accepted international standards in this field. Our
country supports the view that human rights are universal,
indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. In this
context, Bulgaria supports as a matter of principle the
reform of the existing system of international mechanisms
and bodies for human rights monitoring and protection in
order to enhance their effectiveness.
Bulgaria will pursue an active foreign
policy that takes full account of the challenges of a
globalizing modern world. Our country will continue to
win recognition as a reliable partner in combating
terrorism and other threats to international security.
In this context, we will implement an active policy aimed at
establishing working mechanisms for international
cooperation and coordination of counterterrorism efforts. A
priority of our foreign policy will be also the development
of the existing international forms of effective
counteraction and prevention of the proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction and of ensuring effective export
control.
Bulgaria will continue to contribute to
peacekeeping operations and to the settlement of
regional conflicts, conflicts between states and internal
conflicts.
High in the scale of Bulgarian foreign
policy priorities is the development of relations with
neighbouring countries. We will further promote the role
of Bulgaria as a source of security and stability and as
active regional partner in South Eastern Europe, in
accordance with the new geopolitical situation of our
country. One of our regional policy priorities is to
provide comprehensive support to countries in South Eastern
Europe in order to assist the processes of their European
and Euro-Atlantic integration. Bulgaria’s participation in
the existing forms of regional cooperation will focus on
promoting ideas and initiatives for enhancement of their
effectiveness and strengthening the European and
Euro-Atlantic values and standards in South Eastern Europe.
We will put to best use the geographic
and political advantages of Bulgaria in order to develop the
transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure
of the region, by implementing strategic projects. In
particular, this means to ensure Bulgarian participation in
Euro-Asian infrastructure and energy projects.
To achieve its major foreign policy
goals, Bulgaria will make active use of the bilateral
dialogue, in accordance with our traditional ties and
positions.
Development of the cooperation with EU
and NATO member states will be a major priority in our
bilateral relations.
Bulgaria will uphold its relations of
strategic partnership with the U.S. in the context of
Transatlantic cooperation and will aim to further intensify
the economic relations.
We will broaden our relations and areas
of cooperation with Russia and Ukraine, including in
the context of NATO and the EU dialogue with these
countries. Bulgaria will focus its efforts on intensifying
relations with countries in the Black Sea and Caucasus
region and with other CIS member countries, including as
an element of our contribution to the European Neighbourhood
policy and the efforts to stabilize this region.
Bulgaria will work to optimize its
relations with the Middle East countries, including
in the context of NATO and EU initiatives for the “broader
Middle East” and for “Strategic Partnership with the
Mediterranean and the Middle East”.
The efforts of Bulgarian diplomacy
will be aimed also at
establishing strategic partnership with Japan and India,
close partnership with China, the Republic of Korea and
Australia, developing friendly relations and cooperation
with other influential countries from the Asian-Pacific
region such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Iran;
cooperation for expanding access to local markets and energy
resources and attracting investment and financial resources
and technologies.
We will expand political dialogue and
economic cooperation with the countries of Africa
taking into consideration their needs and development
objectives.
A main objective of our foreign policy
concerning Latin America will be strengthening
Bulgarian diplomatic presence in the countries of the
region, aiming at better realization of the existing
potential for bilateral and multilateral cooperation. |
