US Ambassador Sees Good, Bad News for Bulgaria's Security

The 8th annual International Conference on Security in Southeast Europe took place in Sofia Thursday. Photo by BGNES

Speaking at a Balkans Security conference in Sofia, US Ambassador James Warlick outlined both strong and weak sides of Bulgaria's position.

Warlick was the one to open the 8th annual International Conference on Security in Southeast Europe in Sofia with a statement.

"I have good news and bad news for Bulgaria. The good news is that Bulgaria has made very important steps to guarantee its national borders," the US Ambassador stated pointing out that Bulgaria is in the Eastern flank of the EU, which is also important for the United States.

In his words, the bad news is that some call Bulgaria "the weakest link in the EU". Warlick did say that he was not certain if that was really the case but that this is a question that the participants in the conference – and the respective authorities – government, legislature, etc – should ponder.

His Excellency did point out that the USA has a great expert potential on nuclear security issues, and is going to provide Bulgaria with respective equipment and training to Bulgarian officials as part of nuclear non-proliferation measures.

Warlick reminded that the Balkans security conference in Sofia is taking place days before September 11.

"On 9/11 terrorist attacks were carried out against the United States, and this was a sign to the world that everybody should turn their attention to security issues," he stated.

UK Ambassador to Bulgaria Steve Williams told the participants in the conference that he believed the possibility for a war conflict in the Balkans had declined but that there are new threats to the EU countries from persons and groups who can use cyber attacks and weapons of mass destruction.

In his words, these new threats – which are emerging as quickly as the old ones are resolved – can be tackled only through the collective actions of the EU countries.

Spain's Ambassador in Sofia Jorge Fuentes also addressed the conference, as did Russian Embassy diplomat Bublikov who pointed out the Russia's gratitude for Bulgaria's help in putting out the forest fires in Russia over the summer.

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