|
5. For a balanced and economy-oriented foreign policy |
Continuity, balance and diversity, pragmatism and realism, reliance on the professionalism and experience of Bulgarian diplomacy are the underlying principles of President Georgi Parvanov’s foreign policy activity.
The strategic goal – full membership of the European and Euro-Atlantic structures – required expansion and deepening of bilateral relations with the European democracies and the United States. Georgi Parvanov’s exceptional activity in this respect is best illustrated by his five meetings with the Italian President, his productive talks with President Chirac and his three meetings with the German President. Georgi Parvanov was the first foreign official to visit the newly elected German President Prof. Horst Koller. The Bulgarian President was received with royal honours in Denmark and Norway. At the talks in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair described Bulgaria as “a very valuable partner inside NATO” and backed its entry in the EU on January 1, 2007.
|
|
|
 |
|
July 21st, 2004. Berlin. President Georgi Parvanov was the first foreign guest to the newly elected President of Germany Professor Horst Köhler. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
October 17th, 2005. Washington. President Georgi Parvanov met with US President George Bush in the Oval Office at the White House. |
|
Dozens of heads of state visited Bulgaria. The Kings of Belgium and Spain, the Prince of Wales, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the Prince of Monaco received a hospitable welcome and learned about Bulgaria’s successes. Georgi Parvanov and Prince Felipe of Spain opened the Cervantes Institute in Sofia. The Presidents of Austria, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, to mention only a few, visited the Bulgarian head of state during his term of office. The Swiss President was the first head of state to visit Bulgaria in the entire history of the two countries’ diplomatic relations.
During President Parvanov’s visit to the United States (October 16-19, 2005), the two countries strengthened their strategic partnership and created additional opportunities to develop economic cooperation and promote investment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
July 7, 2004, Moscow. Bulgarian President Parvanov and Russian President Putin ahead of their joint press conference in Kremlin. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
January 10, 2005, Santiago. Georgi Parvanov’s visit in Chile is the official visit of a Bulgarian head of state since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1935. |
|
Bulgaria thawed its relations with the Russian Federation. The Bulgarian President believes that invigorating contacts with Russia, especially economic relations, is not only consistent with the efforts regarding the strategic priorities of the Republic of Bulgaria – EU and NATO membership – but even complements them.
President Parvanov made an effort to revitalize relations with countries outside the Euro-Atlantic zone. Bulgaria “rediscovered” some of its traditional partners.
This policy helped Bulgaria revive its relations with Ukraine and the CIS countries, with traditional partners in the Middle East. Georgi Parvanov’s visits to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America gave a strong impetus to Bulgaria’s relations with them. In 2005 he became the first Bulgarian head of state to make official visits to Chile and Brazil in a bid to revitalize relations with the Latin American countries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 2005. The Presidents of Bulgaria and Greece, Georgi Parvanov and Carolos Papoulias after the official opening of Ilinden-Exohi Border Checkpoint. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
September 16, 2002. In Salzburg, President Georgi Parvanov takes part in the session of the European Economic Forum. |
|
In accordance with his election commitments, the President sought the implementation of an economy-oriented foreign policy. He did his best to ensure active lobbying, a dramatic increase in investment flows, expansion of Bulgarian export and implementation of the major infrastructure projects.
Bilateral business forums are an integral part of the schedule of Georgi Parvanov’s official and working visits abroad, as well as of the visits to Bulgaria by foreign heads of state.
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 24, 2002. President Parvanov receives Pope John Paul II in the Coat of Arms Hall of the President’s Office at 2 Dondukov Blvd, Sofia. |
|
Pope John Paul II’s visit to Bulgaria in 2002 was an important highlight of President Parvanov’s term of office. It was through Georgi Parvanov that the Pontiff first told the world and the Bulgarian public that the so-called “Bulgarian connection” in the attempt on his life was an insinuation, an injustice to the Bulgarian people, and that he himself never believed in this “connection”.
Georgi Parvanov was the first president of an Eastern Orthodox Christian country received by the new Pope Benedict XVI. |
