The Editorial Board of Bulgarian Diplomatic Review magazine approached the military attaches of the NATO Member States to Bulgaria in connection with the special issue of the documentary chronicle Bulgaria – NATO with two questions:

• Your assessment of the Bulgarian partnership within the NATO?
• How do you view the role of the international community for finding a solution to the issue of the status of Kosovo in the context of the security in the Balkans?

For Mobile, Interoperable with other NATO Armies Bulgarian Units

Col. Jean-Louis Bruder, French Defence Attache

Seven countries, among which Bulgaria, joined NATO in April 2004. This second and largest wave of enlargement after World War II is of historical significance. Bulgaria makes considerable efforts for adaptation to NATO, which we welcome:

• In the late 1990s a radical restructuring of the Bulgarian defense was initiated, which is still going on, as well as modernization of the military equipment. The aim is to create more compact, limited in strength and mobile units, interoperable with the other NATO armies.
• The financial effort of Bulgaria is also considerable since more than 2% of the annual national budget is allotted for defense. Few member countries of the Alliance allocate such percentage of their budget.
• Regarding military participation, Bulgarian units are present in the theatres of NATO’s military operations, specifically in Kosovo and Afghanistan. The activity of the Bulgarian military is highly appreciated. We shall be jointly engaged in the area of Kabul in the summer of 2006. The French soldiers are glad they will be deployed together with Bulgarian military units.
• Bulgaria participates also in the transformation of NATO. A Bulgarian officer recently joined the command staff of the Rapid Reaction Corps in Lille, which is one of the seven Rapid Reaction Corps of the Alliance. We highly appreciate this participation.

Bulgaria is a reliable and solid partner in the Alliance. Apart from its commitments to the Alliance, Bulgaria takes active part in the EU operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Altea operation), where Bulgaria has deployed a contingent of military and police forces.

The role of the international community in finding solution to the problem of Kosovo’s status. The international community plays key role in finding solution to the problem of Kosovo’s status, which is a big challenge to the stability of the Balkan region and the European continent. Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in the negotiations on the status of Kosovo, is doing resolute work, which France approves entirely. Mr. Ahtisaari’s approach consists in settling a number of particular issues (decentralization, protection of the minorities and of the Serbian cultural and church heritage) before proceeding to the issue of the status proper, where two solutions are excluded: going back to the situation prior to 1990, and accession to a third state.

On its part, the European Union has to get ready to provide enhanced presence in Kosovo with the purpose of enforcing the future agreement on the status, specifically in the field of internal order and rule-of-law state.