President of Slovakia visits the Republic of Bulgaria

On 24 – 25 November 2005, President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič and his wife paid an official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria. In his speech to the National Assembly of Bulgaria, President Gašparovič recalled the historical background of relations between Slovaks and Bulgarians from the very beginning of their national histories. Most of his speech was devoted to the European integration, saying that the European integration process is a unique project in terms of its scale, depth and ambitions and it has already proved its viability. This process was able to support the idea of co-operation and common action as a reasonable and feasible alternative of division, confrontation and conflicts on our continent. “Now, I would like to assure you of our support to your integration in the Union, which was unequivocally expressed by your colleagues in the Slovak Parliament when they approved your accession agreement,” added the President. Mr Gašparovič also stated that 1 January 2007 as a date of Bulgaria‘s accession to the EU can be achieved, Slovakia is ready to follow the exchange of experience of the European issues, and the enlargement of the EU should not come to a halt. He pointed out to the status of national parliaments in relation to the European Parliament as one of the most important issues of the EU members’ existence.

After visiting the National Assembly of Bulgaria, Ivan Gašparovič met with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov who highly appraised Slovakia‘s support to Bulgaria in its integration process. Mr Parvanov considers his country as a moving power among the Balkan countries striving for acceding to the EU. The President of Bulgaria also expressed the need of giving more dynamics to the bilateral economic co-operation and making the collaboration in tourism substantially improved. President Gašparovič stated in the meeting that Bulgaria would be a contribution in the large family of the European nations, appreciated the efforts of Bulgaria in complying with the EU accession criteria, and expressed the support of Slovakia to Bulgaria‘s integration process, which was proclaimed by ratifying the accession agreement. Then he reassured his counterpart of the feasibility to complete the EU integration process by 1 January 2007 and of Slovakia‘s willingness to keep on exchanging the experience of the European affairs. The Presidents were also discussing their countries‘ co-operation within the NATO, as the troops of both of the countries take part in the peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. They touched on the problem of Kosovo. Ivan Gašparovič has claimed that this region should be kept as a multinational society. “All those expelled from Kosovo should be given the right to come home,” said the President of Slovakia. In his view, the stability of the western Balkans should be watched over by the EU troops. The Bulgarian President supports keeping the coalition troops in Iraq for the sake of stability in the country. Regarding the European integration in relation to the 8 percent Turkish minority in Bulgaria, according to President Parvanov, the Bulgarian Turks take a responsible view on the integration process. The Slovak President, being interested in his partner‘s opinion on the integration of Turkey into the EU, was given an optimistic view by the Bulgarian President considering the dynamics of the Turkey‘s approach to the EU enlargement. President Gašparovič met briefly with Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.
A part of the President‘s official visit was a trip to the historic town of Veliko Tarnovo and discussions with students at the Veliko Tarnovo University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius.