How do you assess the period after 1989?
Belgium returned to the industrial traditions from the period before 1936. In the privatization sphere, companies such as Amylum (glucose-fructose syrups), Solvay (soda ash), Umicore (copper) and Interbrew (beer) develop their industrial activities in Bulgaria. Recently other investors, who focus on green field investments, also appeared on the scene. The most typical examples are the combined investments of the companies around the entrepreneur Mr. Roland Dаchatelet, who together with EPIQ, Melexis and XPEQT, is the first producer of electronic technologies in Bulgaria with production units based in Botevgrad and Sofia. Sofia again was the venue, where the first call center in Bulgaria was established. IMRO Company, which provides jobs to hundreds of young people with professional qualifications in languages, handles the calls of the clients in Belgium, France as well as in Bulgaria.

As a result, Belgium today is again one of the key foreign players in Bulgaria, with over 12 000 jobs, opened in various companies.

The Belgian companies are investing with confidence in Bulgaria not only because of the quality and the flexibility of the free labour market but also because of the ability of the Bulgarian people to master foreign languages, even Dutch, which is the language of the people living in Flanders.

I would like to point out that recently the Flemish and the French communities in Belgium decided to develop activities aimed at supporting the development of the Bulgarian society – at the level of small and the medium sized enterprises, at the level of associations of agricultural producers, in support of the care for disadvantaged people, in social policy management with frame of the legislation framework in various social spheres, microbiology, various aspect of ecology and many others.

Universities such as the Flemish in Brussels with

Best 2B and the University in Ghent with AB&BC have established the so-called “development clusters”. Among their members are professors from the two countries, as well as partners from the economic, social and cultural spheres and the municipalities. The twinning and the mutually-beneficial cooperation between the cities of Gabrovo and Aalst, Blagoevgrad and Dendermonde as well as the Agreement for Cooperation between Sofia and Brussels Capital Region of April 2004, opened new opportunities for developing the contacts between the administrations. They are aimed at exchange of best practices, contacts between schools, doctors and hospitals as well as between traders from partner municipalities. I am convinced that the efforts of these clusters, on the one hand, and of the fraternized municipalities on the other will have their place in Europe, when Bulgaria becomes a full-right EU member in January 2007, that they will develop and contribute in the best possible way to the understanding between the citizens of Bulgaria and Belgium.

Is Belgium already viewing Bulgaria as new member of the EU?
It is true that the Belgian population discovered Bulgaria only recently. The attention of the Belgian people was mostly attracted by the initiatives, organized within the cultural event of Europalia 2002 in Brussels and by the Royal visit to Bulgaria in October 2003. Europalia was like a firework of Bulgaria’s cultural beauty over the various corners of Belgium while the privileged relations of the Saxe-Coburg family placed on the foreground not only the natural fondness between the country leaders but also between their peoples. During the Royal visit we witnessed the big fondness of the Bulgarians towards Belgium. A sympathy, which increased during the February 2004 visit of President Parvanov to the cultural park of Hugo Voeten, which hosts one of the best collections of Bulgarian art in the world. The impressive film “Hugo’s Park”, produced by the Bulgarian National Television, presented in a magnificent way this collection, located in the immediate vicinity of Antwerp, in Geel.

After the Europalia expositions, the number of Belgian tourists in Bulgaria marked an impressive growth, rising threefold in just one year. The interest of SN-Brussels Airlines for joint flights with Bulgaria Air was also revived.

Nowadays Bulgaria speaks more and more about Brussels. Has the Belgian capital grown into a synonym for European development?
Since the end of the 20th century, it has been believed Bulgaria’s destiny rests in becoming a part of the key Euro-Atlantic structures – NATO and the European Union. Brussels, the place, where NATO Headquarters and the administrative structures of the European Commission are located, has logically become their significant landmark through the years. This also applies to the institutional aspects in other cities of the Union. The European Union will continue to establish other key centers on its territory as well although the Nice Council in December 2000 decided that the European Councils should be held in Brussels. I sincerely hope that one day Bulgaria will be able to host one of the key European institutions.

How do you assess Bulgaria’s preparedness for its EU accession?
Since the beginning of your negotiations, which I, as former negotiator on the issues of accession, had the chance to follow since March 2000, it was clear Bulgaria possesses the will to become part of Europe as a well-prepared country. The negotiators on Bulgarian part strongly impressed me, and the same applies to the many other Bulgarians I had the chance to meet every day before my appointment to Sofia. Looking back at the path, which has been covered, one should note Bulgaria has made impressive strides ahead. And although in some spheres such as the infrastructure, the administrative capacity, the judiciary and the home affairs, there is still a lot to be done, the progress made so far allows us to view in a positive way the future economic and social integration in Europe. The reasons for this reside in the big European message namely, that together we can improve the quality of life of the people. That is why the debates on the Lisbon Strategy, which should transform Europe into the most performing economic area in 2010, provoke strong interest both in Belgium and in Bulgaria. Our two countries are of an average size in the European Union. We also share common interests, which should open the way for important strategies and directions and lead to a Europe, whose subsidiarity will ensure the further enhancement of the local, the regional, the national and the European level. The positive development and the good balance between those four levels will help us prepare better for our common future.

Juliana Tomova