First visit of President Plevneliev to the Middle East
From October 22 to 24, President Rosen Plevneliev made his first state visit to the Middle East, first visiting Israel and then the Palestinian Authority. These visits are part of a very active policy adopted recently by Bulgaria in this region of the world.
Only a month and a half ago, Israel was visited by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. In this short time, no significant changes have occurred on the agenda of bilateral relations. The talks of President Plevneliev in Jerusalem can be described as a continuation of the excellent political dialogue between the two countries, characterized by special warmth over the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during WWII. This topic is constantly maintained in the contacts between politicians of both countries. It is also present on the agenda now as President Plevneliev invited his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres to visit Bulgaria next year to participate in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from Nazi concentration camps.
It was expected with interest how the sensitive topic of the Burgas bomb attack would fit into the talks. It took place on 18 July, killing five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian. Israel believes the Hezbollah movement stands behind the terrorist attack while Bulgaria has abstained from making the same allegation, arguing that the investigation has still found no evidence for this. During the president's visit to Israel, the two heads of state expressed their common position that the terrorist act in Burgas combined Bulgarians and Jews in their condemnation of such crimes. Rosen Plevneliev said that the Bulgarian authorities were working around the clock to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the terrorist act and those behind them. His partners on the Israeli side said that the Bulgarian authorities employed a very professional approach in the investigation. A new development on the issue has been the opinion expressed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in official talks, that the investigation of the bombing would achieve results in the short term.
Regarding Iran, Bulgaria and Israel hold common positions. President Plevneliev and Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Iran should provide more clarity about its nuclear program and the economic sanctions imposed on Iran must be combined with diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the issue.
A day before the Bulgarian head of state visited the Palestinian Authority, the Speaker of the Knesset Reuven Rivlin expressed his appreciation for Bulgaria’s constructive position on the recovery of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Several events on the day of the visit to Ramallah have shown just urgent this issue is. On the day of the talks of President Plevneliev with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, there were missile attacks against Israel from the Gaza strip, which is part of the Palestinian Authority, followed by retaliatory strikes of the Israeli military aviation. Otherwise, Rosen Plevneliev’s visit to the Palestinian city of Ramallah has shown that the agenda of the Bulgarian-Palestinian relations contains issues related to building their legal framework. The fact that they had prepared for the signing of a document on mutual protection and exchange of classified information indicates that they are aiming at building greater mutual trust between the two countries.
Text and photo: bnr.bg
(25.10.2012)