Mr. Georgi Panayotov Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Bucharest

Mr. Georgi Panayotov was born on November 11, 1956 in Varna. He graduated in history from the University of Sofia. He has passed postgraduate courses at the International Public Administration Institute in Paris and the Higher Institute of European Studies – Strasbourg, France. He is a doctor of history.

He worked as a research associate at the BAS Institute of Balkan Studies, as a lecturer at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, expert and chief expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In different periods he has been unofficial adviser and first adviser at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Bucharest.

Mr. Panayotov, Bulgaria and Romania have strong connections in history for hundreds of years. What determines the common interests on the road to European integration and NATO membership today?
Bulgarian-Romanian relations have stable historical roots. Several factors lie in their basis.

Both peoples inhabit one and the same geopolitical space – South-Eastern Europe. Both countries were and remain a decisive factor for the regional stability and security.

Bulgaria and Romania have similar historical fates. If we make a comparison, we will find coincidence of all important dates – 1878 (restoration of the independence of the two countries), 1944 (leaving the Tripartite Pact), 1989 (overthrow of the regimes of Todor Zhivkov and Nicolae Ceausescu). This tendency will probably continue, because we expect the two countries to become full members of the European Union in 2007. Our two peoples belong to one and the same cultural-religious community – Orthodoxy, which was a bridge for our spiritual unity for many centuries. The Orthodox faith passed on the territory of Romania from Bulgaria and was preached in Old-Bulgarian up to the mid-19th century. All big monuments of orthodoxy on Romanian territory keep evidence of this epoch. In the last years this uniting factor was revived and has its place in the bilateral relations.

How is the 125th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between our countries marked in Romania?
The Bulgarian Embassy in Bucharest, jointly with the two ministries of foreign affairs, became initiator of a series of events. In April the Embassy organized a public presentation of the Romanian translation of the memories of Hristofor Hesapchiev, diplomatic agent and minister plenipotentiary in Bucharest during the period 1905-1910, and in the beginning of May there was a round table with the participation of Vasil Levski Foundation, historians and journalists from both countries. With it the 125th anniversary of the birth of Vasil Levski was commemorated. In September an official ceremony was held for awarding the participants in the competition for essay on the subject: “Bulgaria and Romania – two peoples with a common European future”. In addition to the awarded three first places, encouraging awards and honorary diplomas were handed.

From October 1st an exhibition of documents of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1879 will be opened in Bucharest. The association for international law and international relations (N. Titulescu Foundation) organized a round table with the participation of Bulgarian historians (Prof. G. Markov, Director of the Institute of History, and Prof. V. Traykov). Parallelly in Sofia, in the hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences archive diplomatic documents will be exhibited. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Milkov and the State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Bogdan Aurescu are invited for the opening of the exhibition.

Which are the main directions in the work of the Embassy and which areas of the bilateral relations attract the attention of the Romanian citizens? Are there lines of cooperation on which the efforts of the two countries should focus?
The priorities of our embassy in Bucharest cover several areas: the political and economic sphere, consular relations, cultural links.

In the political sphere in the last years constant and intensive political dialogue at all levels was achieved – between the heads of state, prime ministers, ministers of foreign affairs, ministers and experts. Apart from the official meetings and contacts, personal and friendly relations between the presidents, as well as between the prime ministers and the ministers of foreign affairs were established. Due to the mutual political support, the two countries became members of NATO. We are at one and the same stage of the Euro-integration process. Our purpose is to widen the political dialogue, providing impulses for resolving some of the unsolved questions in the bilateral relations. As an example I will point out that due to the political dialogue we achieved renewal of the negotiations on delimitation of the territorial shelf and waters in the Black Sea (a round of the negotiations will be held in Constantia in the beginning of October). In the area of economic ties, a significant trade growth was marked in the recent years – from USD 300 million in 2002 to the expected USD 500 million in 2004. The Bulgarian and Romanian economy have great potential, which does not correspond to the level of economic exchange. Our expectations that the economic exchange will reach USD 1 billion are quite realistic. The Embassy will continue to work for this.

The consular relations between the two countries are especially good. Up to 2007 the project for extending the non-visa stay from 30 to 90 days remains a priority for the Embassy. We continue the work for abolishment of the taxes collected for passing through the checkpoint Ruse-Giurgiu, which are calculated at about EURO 30-40 for a motor car in one direction and respectively higher for microbuses and trucks. We are working on the project for opening new checkpoints and facilitating the contacts between the population in the border areas, the so-called small traffic.

The cultural relations are far behind the existing possibilities. For the time being we can say that the cultural and scientific exchange is anemic and sporadic. The Embassy is ready to support all projects for their widening. We already presented to the Romanian side a draft agreement for the foundation of a Bulgarian-Romanian Inter-university Centre of European Studies Ruse-Giurgiu. This is an example of cooperation in the area of education with the support of the Stability Pact in South-Eastern Europe.

The embassy will continue to insist that the bilateral relations should develop on the grounds of close partnership and the principles of our Euro-Atlantic membership and future accession to the European Union. In our two countries exist social groups, who probably desire questions which divide us to dominate our bilateral relations (artificial implanting of “Romanian minority” and tabling the question of the “minorities rights” in the bilateral political dialogue, stopping the project for building NPP Belene, etc.) The evolution of our bilateral relations in the past 125 years clearly shows that the mutual interest is continuation of the constructive dialogue.

Juliana Tomova