Challenges before Bulgarian foreign policy in 2013
2012 was marked by active participation of Bulgaria in international affairs, especially when it came to European or NATO integration. No major changes in the course of Bulgarian foreign policy are expected in 2013 but it will surely face a number of new challenges during the year.
Before the coming of the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria in the summer the government will have to work with the new Irish Presidency of the EU.Some of the priorities of this Presidency are reducing youth unemployment and the EU integration of the Western Balkans, which are Bulgarian priorities too and this country would continue to work for the implementation of the goals. Still, Bulgaria’s Schengen bid is not on the Dublin’s list of priorities. In order to join the Schengen Area Bulgaria cannot count on Ireland, as it is not a Schengen member either. That is why during the coming months Bulgaria would have to continue its active work towards convincing opponents of Schengen enlargement that Sofia has achieved actual results in combating organised crime and corruption.
In 2012 Bulgaria continued to reiterate its support for the EU integration of the Western Balkans but in December it did not back the proposition for giving a start date for membership talks with Macedonia. Sofia said this was due to the fact that Macedonia did not manage to keep good relations with its neighbors. The Bulgarian government now aims at creating a mechanism for increased bilateral cooperation with Macedonia but knows that would not be an easy task. Bulgaria would also continue increasing its cooperation with Serbia.
An important challenge before the Bulgarian foreign policy in 2013 will be diversification of energy source deliveries. A step towards achieving this goal is completing gas links with Greece Turkey, Romania, and Serbia.
In 2013 Bulgarian foreign policy would also need to show that the active role of this country in international affairs would continue after the parliamentary elections in the summer.
Source: http://bnr.bg/
(10.01.2013)