The Institute for Regional and International Studies, Sofia, in cooperation with the Forum for Civil Rights, Nis, organized Bulgarian-Serbian Conference on transborder cooperation. The conference was held at Borovets on July 6-7, 2002. This event and related activities have been supported by the Regional Networking Project, sponsored by Freedom House, with funding provided by the US Agency for International Development. The event has also been supported by the European Integration and Regional Cooperation Program of the Open Society Foundation, Sofia.

H.E. Mr. Cedomir Radojkovic, Ambassador of the FR Yugoslavia to Sofia, was present and delivered a welcoming address at the conference.

The conference was a part of a project aimed at establishing a forum and interface for dialogue, communication and interaction in political and economic cooperation, media, cultural and educational exchange. A crucial component of the project is organizing training seminars for representatives of municipal authorities on both sides of the border in order to promote transborder cooperation at local level.

PARTICIPANTS

Serbia

1. H.E. Cedomir Radojkovic, Ambassador of the FR of Yugoslavia to Sofia
2. Milorad Jovanovic, MP, Parliament of Yugoslavia
3. Vlastimir Bacevic, MP, Parliament of Yugoslavia
4. Miroslav Stefanovic, MP, Parliament of Yugoslavia
5. Dragan Milosavljevic, Governor of the Pirot Region
6. Sasa Janackovic, President of the Executive Council of Bela Palanka
7. Petar Joncic, Mayor, Municipality of Babusnica
8. Dejan Milenkovic, Mayor, Municipality of Bela    Palanka
9. Bojan Davidkov, Mayor, Municipality of Dimitrovgrad
10. Slobodan Popovic, Mayor, Municipality of Surdulica
11. Zoran Spasic, President of the Executive Council of Babusnica
12. Emil Sokolov, President of the Executive Council of Dimitrovgrad
13. Slavisa Kovacevic, Trainer, Faculty of Law, University of Nis
14. Srdjan Dimitrijevic, Trainer, President of NGO City House, Leskovac
15. Dragica Krstic, Pirot Television
16. Predrag Dimitrov, Pirot Television
17. Marija-Joanna Stojadinovic, Belgrade
18. Neven Cveticanin, Forum for Ethnic Relations, Belgrade
19. Jadranka Vukovic, President of Center for Civil Rights Nis
20. Dragan Corbic, Vice President of Center for Civil Rights Nis
21. Branislav Novakovic, Center for Civil Rights Nis

                               Bulgaria

1. Mihail Mikov, MP, National Assembly
2. Vladimir Filipov, Stability Pact for SEE Coordinator for Bulgaria
3. Stanislav Demirdjiev - Department "Europe-I", Ministry of Foreign Affairs
4. Velin Metodiev, Mayor, Municipality of Godech
5. Todor Varadinov, Expert, Municipality of Godech
6. Ivan Tsenov, Mayor, Municipality of Vidin
7. Emil Tsankov, Mayor, Municipality of Belogradchik
8. Peko Pekov, Mayor, Municipality of Kula
9. Ivan Floreskov, Mayor, Municipality of Berkovitsa
10. Marian Tsvetanov, Governor of Montana Region
11. Pavlinka Triffonova, Deputy Governor of Vidin Region
12. Alexander Mihailov, Senior Expert, Municipality of Sofia
13. Vasil Radoinovski, Director, Industry Consult Ltd., Sofia
14. Boyko Vassilev, Bulgarian National Television
15. Georgi Koritarov, Radio Free Europe
16. Jordan Vassilev, Business Consultant, Sofia
17. Ognyan Minchev, Director, Institute for Regional and International Studies
18. Lyubov Mincheva, Institute for Regional and International Studies
19. Marin Lessenski, Institute for Regional and International Studies
20. Antonina Arbova, Institute for Regional and International Studies
21. Plamen Ralchev, Institute for Regional and International Studies

From June 17-25, 2002 an IRIS delegation had a series of presentations on the book "Bulgaria for NATO 2002" in Washington DC. The delegation included IRIS Director Dr. Ognyan Minchev and other key authors who contributed to the book, including Vladimir Shopov, IRIS research associate, Todor Tagarev, Director of Programs of the Centre for National Security and Defence Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Maria Atanassova, NATO desk officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as Marin Lessenski, Program Director with IRIS and Milen Minchev, Radio Free Europe.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosted the first presentation. The forum, chaired by Dr. Janusz Bugajski, CSIS East Europe Program Director, was attended by representatives of the US Congress and State Department, US think tanks, including Robert Hunter, Senior Advisor at RAND, diplomats and journalists. The Bulgarian ambassador to Washington, DC, H.E. Ms. Elena Poptodorova was also present. The audience was highly impressed by the presentation of the Bulgarian experts.

A public discussion on "Democracy in Bulgaria: Political Reform and the NATO Accession Process" was hosted by the National Endowment for Democracy and started with a comprehensive presentation by Dr. Ognyan Minchev. The meeting was focused on Bulgaria's democratic process and was chaired by Paul B. McCarthy, NED Program Officer for Southeastern Europe and Thomas W. Skladony, Senior Program Officer with the NED International Forum for Democratic Studies. H.E. Ms. Avis Bolen, H.E. Mr. Sol Polansky, former US ambassadors to Bulgaria were among the participants.

IRIS delegation also provided in-depth briefings on Bulgaria's accession to NATO to senior staffers of the House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The issues that were singled out were practical measure to tackle corruption, army and security sector reforms, political and public attitudes to NATO accession, Bulgaria's policy to contribute to NATO's essential tasks and the war against terrorism.

During their five-day-working visit to Washington, DC Bulgarian experts also had working meetings with representatives of Department of Defense and the Department of State. The delegation had discussions on NATO's enlargement and transformation at key institutions, including the Heritage Foundation, the Institute for Defense Analyses, the US Institute of Peace and the Hudson Institute. At the National Defense University Dr. Ognyan Minchev and Dr. Todor Tagarev met Dr. Jeffrey Simon.

The publication and presentation of the book were made possible by the support of the US German Marshall Fund and Open Society Foundation - Sofia.

  On June 14, 2002 representatives of key think tanks from potential NATO member countries had briefings and discussions at NATO HQ. The visit was accomplished within the framework of the project "Civic Self-Assessment of NATO Membership Potential", sponsored by Freedom House - Regional Networking Project, funded by the USAID. The project is a joint initiative of IRIS, the Slovak Foreign Policy Association and the Latvian Institute for Foreign Affairs.

   The participants discussed NATO's political agenda, transformation and enlargement, EU-NATO relations and defense reforms in MAP countries. Two workshops - in Riga and Sofia - preceded the event. A report on the major issues facing NATO potential members was drafted and disseminated.

View the report here.

For the agenda and list of participants, click here.

Bulgaria for NATO 2002

The text is available here

  IRIS Director, Dr. Ognyan Minchev, delivered a speech on the Bulgarian ethnic model of integrating minorities in society and government at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring Session, held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 25-28, 2002.

Security Concerns of Prospective Members
International Workshop

The document is available here

Укрепване на Общественото Влияние и Упражняване на Публичен Контрол Върху Процеса на Взимане на Решения

The book is available here

Security Challenges and Development of Southern Balkans

The book is available here

COUNTRY REPORT:2001
BULGARIA:
STATE OF DEMOCRACY
ROADMAP FOR REFORMS

The paper is available here