Bulgaria
Executive Summary
The years 2004 and 2005 were a period of transformation on the Bulgarian political scenes. Tension in the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) ranks resulted in former UDF leader and prime minister in the period 1997-2001 Ivan Kostov establishing a split-up parliamentary group of his ownas a first step towards the formation of his new political party. It became a reality in June 2004 under the name Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB). Another break-away formation appeared in March 2004 when young activists from the National Movement Simeon ²² (NMSS) set up a separate parliamentary group of the New Time. The parliamentary group was officially institutionalised as a political party in July.
The beginning of the political 2005 promised turbulent pre-election months. In February a parliamentary crisis followed a major privatisation scandal involving Minister of Economy Lidia Shuleva. The government survived a non-confidence vote in parliament by a slim margin thanks to the New Time party's last minute support. Yet, Prime Minister Simeon Sax-Coburg Gotha had to make cabinet changes, giving the New Timers ministerial position in return for their parliamentary backing. The June 2005 parliamentary elections brought back to power the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), with its leader Sergei Stanishev heading a tripartite coalition government among the BSP, and the National Movement Simeon II and the mainly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which had a second and third largest election result respectively. The biggest surprise of the elections was the strong showing of the newly established nationalist coaltion Ataka, which received 8.93% of the votes.
In the period Bulgaria fulfilled some of its large-scale foreign policy goals set in 1997. Bulgaria become a full-fledged NATO member on March 29th, 2004 when the instruments of ratification were deposited in Washington, DC. Further, in 2004 Bulgaria entered the final stage of negotiations for EU accession. On June 15th, 2004 all 31 negotiation chapters were closed, and Bulgaria signed its EU Accession Treaty on April 25th, 2005 in Luxembourg. Bulgaria is scheduled to become a full EU member state on January 1st, 2007. In 2004, Bulgaria held the Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). At the end of the Chairmanship - in December 2004 Sofia hosted the 12th OSCE Ministerial Council.
In 2004 and 2005 Bulgaria registered a serious economic progress, partly as a result of the implementation of key structural reforms. Among other factors accounting for economic growth were the successful finalisation of certain privatisation deals, the steady development of the banking sector, and the improvement of the regulatory environment. Further, in the period Bulgaria was allocated substantial financial resources by leading international institutions, aimed at the reconstruction and modernisation of its road, rail, and port infrastructure. A leading agency in the provision of the resources for the purpose was the European Investment Bank (EIB), with the European Union (EU) also providing sufficient funding through its ISPA programme.
The true launch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces (BAF) modernisation took place when at a closed session on May 27th, 2005, the Bulgarian government endorsed a list of 11 priority modernisation projects. The ambitious programme for the BAF is expected to cost approximately BGN 5 bln.
Sources used for the profile: CEEBIC, Economist Intelligence Unit, Bulgarian government, Bulgarian Ministry of Defence, Transport Infrastructure Regional Study, CIA World Factbook, EBRD, European Commission, The Military Balance 2004 - 2005, published by the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, CSEES.