Address
by Mr. Yordan SOKOLOV, President of the National Assembly of the Republic
of BULGARIA
Mr. Chairman,
Dear Colleagues,
First and foremost, I
wish to commend the initiative launched by Mr. Stoyan Andov, President
of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, to hold this Conference
and also to express our gratitude for the warm hospitality accorded
to us here, in friendly Skopje.
It was only a month ago that the Summit of Heads of State and Government
was held within the framework of the South-East European Cooperation
Process. It heralded a new stage of the development of the regional
process launched at the Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs in
Sofia in 1996, which has developed over the years as a real factor for
peace, stability and cooperation in the Balkans and in Europe.
The most essential point of this new stage is the fact that today all
countries in South-Eastern Europe share the European values of peace,
good-neighbourly relations and cooperation, democracy and respect for
human rights, and striving for economic and social progress. These shared
ideals enshrined in the Charter on Good-Neighbourly Relations, Stability,
Security and Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe and confirmed in the
Declaration of the Summit held in Skopje provide sound foundations for
the development of relations between the countries in the region. Their
common goal is also the integration into the European and Euroatlantic
structures, although these countries find themselves at different stages
on the way towards its attainment. All this creates solid grounds for
overcoming the existing differences and for identifying mutually acceptable
solutions of problems arising in their relations.
The democratic changes in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which
we whole-heartedly welcomed, have opened up opportunities for reinstatement
of its membership of the process. Bosnia and Herzegovina has also acquired
the status of a full-fledged participant. Opportunities for expanding
cooperation in the economic sphere, too, have been identified in the
new framework.
Favourable conditions emerge for encouraging regional cooperation to
bring our countries and peoples closer together and to enhance regional
stability and European integration.
Mr. Chairman,
While noting with satisfaction the positive elements of the current
stage of the South-East European Cooperation Process, our Parliamentary
Conference cannot turn a deaf ear to the alarming tendencies that emerge
in the Balkan region and threaten its stability. The visible tips of
this dangerous iceberg are the events in Southern Serbia and along the
northern border of Macedonia, as well as those around Tetovo. The armed
provocations of Albanian extremists infringe upon the internationally
recognised borders and the territorial integrity of the Republic of
Macedonia; they threaten the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia and the democratic processes underway in that country
and hamper the efforts of the international community to bring the situation
in Kosovo back to normal.
Bulgaria decisively supported the international community in thwarting
the reprisals of the Milosevic regime against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo
and now with equal determination it condemns and opposes the current
actions of Albanian extremists. For understandable reasons, Bulgaria
is among the countries that are most interested in settling the conflicts
in Southern Serbia and the northern areas of Macedonia and in identifying
a lasting political solution. In this connection, more specifically
with respect to the armed provocations in the area of the Macedonian-Yugoslav
border, on 9 March 2001, the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria
adopted unanimously a Declaration, condemning those terrorist actions,
insisting on strict observance of the sovereignty, territorial integrity
and the internationally recognised borders of the Republic of Macedonia,
expressing hopes for resolution of problems by political means, urging
for reinforced measures on part of KFOR to stop provocations at the
borders and insisting on the United Nations, the OSCE, the EU and NATO
safeguarding the complete and strict observance of Resolution No. 1244
of the UN Security Council. The Declaration appeals to all countries
participating in the South-East European Cooperation Process to condemn
terrorism and to reiterate their support to the Republic of Macedonia.
On the basis of an agreement unanimously ratified by the National Assembly,
Bulgaria has provided Macedonia with the requested military technical
assistance.
Mr. Chairman,
We are deeply confident that the new favourable factors in the development
of the cooperation process in South-Eastern Europe and also the challenges
facing it today make the cooperation among our Parliaments ever more
imperative. This Second Conference of the Presidents of Parliaments
of the countries in the region is to strengthen and develop the good
beginning laid down at our First Conference held in Athens in 1997.
There we agreed on some principles underlying our parliamentary cooperation.
It was decided to reinforce it on a bilateral basis and to regularly
hold multilateral conferences of the Presidents of national Parliaments
on the basis of rotation. The Procedural Framework attached to the draft
Declaration of our Conference develops these foundations of our parliamentary
cooperation. It specifies the powers of the President of Parliament
of the country hosting the Process to coordinate parliamentary cooperation
within the framework of this Process, and provides for exchange of views
between Parliamentary Committees on issues of special importance. It
further encourages the cooperation with international parliamentary
fora, etc.
Currently, the contribution of parliamentary cooperation to resolving
problems of security and stability in the region seems to be particularly
meaningful. I wish to believe that our Conference in its Final Document
will condemn the terrorist actions against the Republic of Macedonia,
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in Kosovo and will urge the international
community and the relevant international organisations to contribute
to isolating extremist forces and implementing the resolutions of the
U.N. Security Council in the settlement of the crisis in Kosovo and
the related problems. The solution should be approached as an European
rather than a purely Balkan issue, and the international community should
take up its responsibility.
An important area of our parliamentary cooperation should be the effort
to attain the goals and tasks of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern
Europe and to promote its efficiency. Bulgaria supports the Pact as
an instrument of the EU policy in South-Eastern Europe.
The implementation of the Action Plan for Regional Economic Cooperation
and the initiatives launched at the Economic Forum for South-Eastern
Europe open up broad horizons for parliamentary cooperation in such
areas as the progress of economic and social reforms, the development
of trade, the encouragement of foreign investments, the development
of infrastructures and especially transportation, communications and
the energy sector, the protection of the environment, the combat against
organised crime and corruption, etc. It would be appropriate for some
of these areas to become the object of multilateral cooperation with
the involvement of the specialised Committees of national Parliaments.
