We are eager to preserve our precious heritage – our mutual trust and the friendship between our peoples

H. E. Mr. Anatoli Potapov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation:

Anatoli Potapov was born in 1942. In 1968 he graduated the Moscow Institute of Radio-Electronics and Mining Mechanics. He graduated the Higher Party School with the Central Committee of CPSU in 1978.

Since 1975 he has been occupying different posts in the executive power and in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From November 1998 to 2000 he was Deputy Minister for CIS Affairs. From January 2002 he was again Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

With a decree of the President of the Russian Federation he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Bulgaria. H.E. Mr. Anatoli Potapov took office on June 8, 2004.

Your Excellency, you are assuming the post of Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Bulgaria in a period when we mark the 125th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries. Would you outline the historical borders of cooperation between Bulgaria and Russia and its future parameters?
It is a great pleasure for me to greet the readership of your magazine on the eve of a truly grand jubilee – 125 years since the establishment of the Russian-Bulgarian diplomatic relations.

This period covers the rich history of our interstate collaboration – from the handing of the letters of credence by the first Russia diplomatic agent in Bulgaria, A. A. Davidov, to the Bulgarian Prince Alexander Battenberg on July 7, 1879, down to the present day.

The Russians took to heart the struggle of the Bulgarian people against the centuries-long Ottoman oppression. Pleven and Shipka, Sheinovo and Stara Zagora will always remain in the memory of both Bulgarians and Russians as a symbol of military interaction in the struggle for Bulgaria’s freedom, where some 200,000 Russian soldiers perished. The Russian military administration aided the establishment of national bodies of government in the liberated country – court of law, regular army, contemporary educational institutions. Considerable was also the Russian contribution to drafting the Turnovo Constitution, which laid the foundations of the modern state organisation.

The Russian assistance for reviving Bulgaria was sincere and selfless. Instructing the Russian Commissioner in Sofia in April 1878, Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov highlighted that Russia’s principal aim in Bulgaria was not to enhance the Russian influence, but rather to strengthen the independence of the young state, thus helping it to “resist all sorts of hostile encroachments”.

Over the last 125 years the Russian-Bulgarian relations have gone through different periods. There have been cases of such grave misunderstanding that placed our countries in rival camps. Yet, our common history has built up a powerful basis for cooperation. That is what we must value and further exploit to develop the bilateral Russian-Bulgarian relations in the qualitatively new, rational and stiffly competitive modern world. We do feel strongly about the preservation of our precious heritage – the mutual trust and the friendship between our peoples. We would like it to serve for their prosperity and welfare in the changing Europe.

You are assuming this post after holding the extremely high position of Deputy Foreign Minister in the hierarchy of Russia’s foreign policy. Does that mean that Russia is seeking a higher level of representation in its relations with Bulgaria and what form do these expectations take on?
A pillar in the current interrelations between Moscow and Sofia remains the political dialogue, and its tone is determined at the summits. Over the last two years the Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin and the Bulgarian President Mr. Georgi Parvanov met five times. Last year’s visit of the Russian head of state to Bulgaria was conducive to a considerably higher level of interaction between the two countries. The negotiations conducted in Sofia and the documents signed then, especially the joint declaration of the two presidents for enhancement of the friendly relations and partnership, set the perspective and the strategic priorities of our cooperation.

In July we expect the official visit of the Bulgarian President, Mr. Georgi Parvanov, to Russia. The new meeting of our two heads of state will undoubtedly mark another important stage in our bilateral relations. There will also be other visits to Bulgaria, scheduled for the end of 2004 – of the Russian Prime Minister, Mr. M. Fradkov, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. S. Lavrov.

Pursuing the multifaceted bilateral cooperation, we have achieved a lot in foreign-political terms. On the whole, we can say that we are well aware of our positions with regard to international and especially to regional problems. Our dialogue on UN issues is invigorating, including the issues of countering the global threats and challenges. We share the view of the need for further reinforcement of European security, particularly with regard to stabilising the situation on the Balkans. Mr. Solomon Passy, Bulgarian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman-in-office, who visited Moscow early this year, had serious talks about the ways to improve the role of this organisation in the resolution of European problems, the reaffirmation of its significance as a key element in the process of setting up a security system on the continent.