VZCZCXRO5338
PP RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSF #0267 0531606
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221606Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1488
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0088
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SOFIA 000267 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EU IZ BU
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT APPROVES BULGARIAN MILITARY DEPLOYMENT 
TO CAMP ASHRAF 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Bulgaria's ruling three-party coalition won 
parliamentary approval February 22 to send 155 Bulgarian 
military personnel to Camp Ashraf, Iraq.  The vote was 151 
to 14 with one abstention.  This decision clears the final 
hurdle in the GOB's political approval process for the 
mission and highlights the ruling coalition's determination 
to follow through on a controversial foreign policy 
initiative that has limited public support.  According to 
Defense Minister Veselin Bliznakov, the unit is expected to 
deploy by late March.  As expected, the ultra-nationalist 
Ataka party criticized the proposal to send Bulgarian troops 
back to Iraq but failed to make a dent in the Government's 
solid majority. 
 
¶2. (SBU) While supporting the Camp Ashraf mission, the 
center-right Union for Democratic Forces used the debate to 
ridicule the Bulgarian Socialist Party for its campaign 
pledge to immediately withdraw Bulgarian troops from Iraq, 
if elected.  Ataka MPs first tried to postpone the vote by 
calling for a quorum count.  After the count, Ataka MPs 
questioned the humanitarian nature of the mission and 
accused the government of hiding information and involving 
Bulgaria in "a bloody adventure."  Petar Beron, also from 
Ataka, said the Ashraf mission is a "shameful operation" and 
that the Iraqi regime is "a marionette."  Former PM and 
leader of the opposition Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, Ivan 
Kostov, questioned whether the mission is humanitarian, and 
asserted that a parliamentary decision was not needed to 
send forces on a humanitarian mission. 
 
¶3. (SBU) MPs from the ruling coalition defended the mission, 
which has been presented as a primarily humanitarian mission 
in GOB public statements, stressing that Bulgaria must be a 
reliable partner and member of the coalition in Iraq.  Yunal 
Lyutfi, an MP from the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights 
and Freedom, responded to Ataka's criticism by stressing the 
need for Bulgaria to be "consistent in its foreign policy." 
 
¶4. (SBU) The vote ends a painful five-month deliberation 
process for the GOB, moved forward by frequent U.S. 
advocacy.  In the end, the GOB decided, as PM Stanishev has 
frequently said, that continued involvement in Iraq remains 
in Bulgaria's national interest. 
 
BEYRLE