04.4.2007

Solomon Passy: Bulgaria starts acquiring a new role in international affairs

FOCUS: Mr. Passy, could you tell us about the establishment of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria?
Solomon Passy: A small group of MPs from the Grand National Assembly realized that Europe’s presence was Bulgaria’s future. We wanted to transform Bulgaria into a country similar to the democratic and progressing member states of the Euro-Atlantic community and we decided that the first step towards that goal was Bulgaria’s NATO accession. Later, our NATO accession turned out to be the most significant stepping-stone and the most important and necessary condition for the country’s EU accession. The whole pre-accession process can be conditionally divided into two large periods. The first one refers to the formation of our vision. It ended somewhere in 1999 – 2000. The second period refers to the realization of our vision – in 2003 and 2004. I want to point to the role of Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha and the team of the National Movement Simeon II /NMSII/ which led the talks with NATO. We had one basic rule – Bulgaria would join NATO if it behaved as if it were already a member. We had to start to observe the rules without expecting praises. For example, one of the key issues, which were not solved, was the dismantlement of the old and unnecessary СС-23 missiles.

FOCUS: How did the Bulgarians’ attitude to NATO develop through the years?
Solomon Passy: During the period of 17 years since we announced our intentions about the NATO membership, the Bulgarians started having the appropriate view of NATO. NATO is the largest military-political organization that has ever existed in the world. Moreover, it is getting larger and larger and more powerful. It will take more and more commitments aimed at providing peace in the world. NATO will become the main subagent of the UN on all world security issues. There is no other organization that can realize the goals of the UN Charter in such a way as NATO can. We have to realize that Bulgaria joined NATO in a very crucial moment when NATO acquired a substantially new role in the international affairs. As a result Bulgaria also acquired a new role in the international affairs. As Bulgaria regarded with respect the countries which are similar in size – the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, it will be looked upon in the same way by other countries which are going to join NATO – the Western Balkan countries, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova Ukraine, and the Central Asian countries. Bulgaria’s NATO accession is a serious investment in the security of our country and the region. The investment has direct economic and financial aspects. If we hadn’t joined NATO, we wouldn’t have succeeded about our EU membership.

FOCUS: You mentioned that the Bulgarians’ view about NATO had changed throughout the years. Could you tell us something about the change of parties’ stands on our NATO membership?
Solomon Passy: I think that NATO has become a common idea and each serious Bulgarian party supports Bulgaria’s NATO membership. Of course, there are extremist parties such as the Attack party, which have another opinion. But we've seen many times how that party discredited Bulgaria in the European Parliament.
I want to congratulate the president of FOCUS News Agency Krasimir Uzunov who was one of the first champions of the Atlantic cause in Bulgaria and one of the first activists of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria even before its establishment.

FOCUS: How did the attitudes change during Bulgaria’s reorientation from the Warsaw Pact to the NATO membership?
Solomon Passy: The Atlantic Club’s achievement is of a European scale. I think that our membership in the Warsaw Pact was helpful a lot for the change of the Bulgarians’ views. I think that it is much more difficult for countries which maintain neutrality to change their views than countries which belong to military blocs.


The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria was founded on April 4, 1991 at the initiative of Solomon Passy, then MP from the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF). The Atlantic Club is a non-governmental organization maintaining the values of the European Atlantic community. Its activity is related to solving problems of security and foreign relations. The club sponsors visits and lectures of well-known figures, experts, artists and scientists.