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Viewing cable 09SOFIA259, SCENESETTER FOR CONGRESSMAN POE'S MAY 30-JUNE 1 VISIT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09SOFIA259 2009-05-28 12:11 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Sofia
VZCZCSFI659
PP RUEHC RUEKJCS RUEABND RHMCSUU RUEAWJA RUEAHLC
RUEHIT
DE RUEHSF #0259/01 1481211
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281211Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6031
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC 0260
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0534
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SOFIA 000259 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCOR KCRCM BU
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR CONGRESSMAN POE'S MAY 30-JUNE 1 VISIT 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Representative Poe, Embassy Sofia warmly 
welcomes you and looks forward to a very successful May 30 - June 1 
visit.  Your visit comes at an important time - just one week before 
European Parliamentary Elections and five weeks before Bulgaria's 
national elections.  The current Socialist-led, three-party 
coalition government is on its last legs, and the upcoming elections 
are expected to usher in a major transformation of the political 
landscape.  Bulgaria has proven itself to be a strong and reliable 
ally in international security and a willing partner in 
counter-terrorism, border security and counter-narcotics 
cooperation.  In Sofia, you will meet with the President's Chief of 
Staff and top advisor, Nikola Kolev.  In Plovdiv, Bulgaria's 
second-largest city and former capital, you will meet directly with 
our key partners on three of our Mission's highest priorities: 
defense cooperation, counter-narcotics and trafficking in persons. 
Your visit will reaffirm the value the United States places on our 
strategic partnership with Bulgaria and our enduring interest in 
combating trans-national threats in the region.  Stressing the 
importance of concrete actions and demonstrable results on these 
issues will help maintain the momentum of our cooperation as we move 
through a change in government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) POLITICAL CHANGE COMING:  The Socialist-led coalition 
government is limping toward the finish of its four-year mandate. 
The government has followed a trans-Atlantic course, supported U.S. 
foreign policy goals (such as in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo) and 
presided over Bulgaria's European Union accession in January 2007. 
But the government has gradually lost steam and will not survive the 
upcoming elections in its current form.  A new center-right party, 
GERB, led by the mayor of Sofia, Boyko Borrisov, is widely expected 
to lead the next government, though its composition and orientation 
are not yet clear.  Despite EU and NATO membership, much of the 
Bulgarian population remains reflexively pro-Russian.  While U.S. 
partnership is dearly important to the government, its leadership 
seeks way to deepen cooperation with us, without angering Russia. 
 
3.  (SBU) WEATHERING THE ECONOMIC STORM:  Bulgaria is finally 
feeling the effects of the global financial crisis.  After five 
years of impressive GDP growth (averaging seven percent annually), 
foreign direct investment and remittances are down, tourism revenues 
are sagging, key industries are in major contraction, the real 
estate and construction sectors are declining, exports are shrinking 
and unemployment is creeping higher.  The IMF predicts the Bulgarian 
economy will contract by three percent in 2009 and a further one 
percent in 2010.  Still, Bulgaria is muddling through.  In contrast 
to many East European neighbors, Bulgaria entered the crisis in 
relatively strong shape.  A policy of fiscal conservatism translated 
into consecutive years of budget surpluses and left the country with 
healthy buffers and allowed it to avoid (at least for now) the 
financial turbulence seen in many of its neighbors. 
 
4.  (SBU) COUNTER-NARCOTICS COOPERTION:  The transit of heroin from 
Afghanistan through the Black Sea region is a growing concern to the 
United States.  Strategically situated on Balkan transit routes, 
Bulgaria is vulnerable to illegal flows of drugs, people, 
contraband, and money.  Heroin distributed in Europe moves through 
Bulgaria from Southwest Asia, while chemicals used for making heroin 
move from Europe through Bulgaria to Turkey and the Middle East. 
Drug trafficking profits help fuel corruption in Bulgaria and 
exacerbate rule of law challenges.  Organized crime groups, which 
have operated openly in Bulgaria in the past, are moving into 
legitimate business operations or slowly legitimizing themselves, 
making it difficult to trace the origins of their wealth. 
 
5.   (SBU)  In recent months, close cooperation between DEA and 
Bulgarian law enforcement authorities has achieved important 
successes in attacking drug trafficking and going after dirty money. 
 Within the beleaguered and widely corrupted law enforcement and 
judicial system, we have identified people we trust and can work 
with to get the job done.  Over the past year, our Bulgarian 
colleagues made record seizures of heroin at their borders.  Despite 
these discreet successes, Bulgaria still has a long way to go to 
strengthen border and territorial controls, law enforcement 
agencies' operational capabilities, and internal oversight.  In 
addition, lack of financing and inadequate equipment to facilitate 
narcotics searches; widespread corruption, especially in the Customs 
offices and among the judiciary; and excessively formalistic 
judicial procedures continue to hamper counternarcotics efforts.  As 
part of our anti-drug trafficking strategy, we are urging the 
Bulgarian authorities to go after drug profits and step up the fight 
against money laundering.  You will have a chance to discuss our law 
enforcement partnership in more detail when you meet with the Chief 
of the Bulgarian Criminal Police, Kalin Georgiev and the Director 
for Combating Organized Crime, Stanimir Florov in Plovdiv. 
 
6.  (SBU) FIGHTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS:  Bulgaria remains a 
source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for 
the trafficking of men, women and children.  The State Department's 
Annual Trafficking in Persons Report ranks Bulgaria as a Tier 2 
country, which means that the Bulgarian government does not fully 
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of 
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. 
Victims from Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan are 
trafficked to and through Bulgaria to Germany, Italy, the 
Netherlands, and other Western European countries for commercial 
sexual exploitation and forced labor.  Around 15 percent of 
identified trafficking victims in Bulgaria are children. 
Trafficking of victims within Bulgaria's borders, primarily to 
resort areas along the Black Sea coast, and in border towns with 
Greece, for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, remains a 
serious problem. 
 
7.  (SBU)  Thanks to international community, Embassy, NGO and 
private citizen outreach, Bulgarian officials are becoming 
increasingly aware of this issue and as a result we have scored some 
recent successes:  a bill to legalize prostitution was rejected, the 
National Anti-trafficking Commission was strengthened and two 
municipal councilors implicated in human trafficking were arrested. 
In 2008, the Bulgarian government opened three new centers for 
children victims of violence, bringing the total number to six 
nationwide, and opened its first government funded shelter for adult 
trafficking victims in Varna in April 2009.  Bulgarian law 
enforcement still faces significant challenges in this sector, 
including well-organized criminal networks, internal discord, and 
cumbersome criminal legal procedures.  You will have the opportunity 
to discuss these issues in more detail with the Chief of Mission for 
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ilyana Derilova, 
a leader in the field and a long-time partner of the Bulgarian 
government and USAID. 
 
8.  (SBU) DEEPENING DEFENSE PARTNERSHIP:  Bulgaria is a 
battle-tested ally that has consistently supported U.S. foreign 
policy in the security arena.  Following U.S. leadership, Bulgaria 
recognized Kosovo as an independent country despite the objections 
of its neighbors; it has deployed 117 peacekeepers in Bosnia and 42 
in Kosovo.  Bulgaria participated alongside U.S. forces in Iraq from 
2003 until the end of last year, when (at the Government of Iraq's 
request), the Bulgarian mission was concluded.  In Afghanistan, 
Bulgaria has steadily increased its troop contributions and 
currently has just under 500 soldiers in country, with the bulk of 
these forces in Kandahar.  Bulgaria's steadfast commitment in these 
areas despite widespread public opposition to military deployments 
and the country's relatively small size and GDP is a testament to 
the importance the government attaches to its strategic relationship 
with the United States. 
 
9.  (SBU) You will visit Graf Ignatievo Air Base, our primary 
platform for U.S.-Bulgaria Air Force cooperation and one of four 
military facilities in Bulgaria where U.S. forces are allowed to 
operate under the 2006 U.S.-Bulgaria Defense Cooperation Agreement. 
The U.S. Air Force trains at least twice a year with its Bulgarian 
counterparts at Graf Ignatievo, and we regularly conduct joint 
U.S-Bulgaria VIP and media day events at the air base.  The 301st 
fighter wing (Air Force Reserve Unit) out of Forth Worth, TX will 
deploy ten F-16s to train with the Bulgarians at the base this 
September.  Graf Ignatievo is the Bulgarian base of highest 
strategic importance to NATO, since it boasts the only NATO standard 
runway in the country.  The Bulgarian government looks to us for 
advice and leadership as it undertakes military modernization, 
especially on obtaining multi-role fighters for its badly aging and 
Russia-dependent Air Force.  You will have a chance to discuss our 
ongoing cooperation in more detail with the Base Commander of Graf 
Ignatievo, BGen Rumen Radev, one of the rising stars of the 
Bulgarian Armed Forces and one of the Embassy's most engaging 
contacts. 
 
10.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  Although the government faces significant 
challenges on corruption and domestic reform issues, Bulgaria is an 
active partner and can play a greater leadership role in the region. 
 Our support will encourage the government to build its 
international security capacity, protect its borders, fight 
transnational crime, prevent money laundering and upgrade public 
integrity and accountability.  Your visit will highlight our robust 
and deepening security relationship and advance our larger strategic 
cooperation with Bulgaria on regional stability and rule of law. 
 
MCELDOWNEY