Talks on EU Accession Date to Begin Monday, Foreign Minister Says.

 

Sofia, April 21 (BTA) - A date for Bulgaria's future accession to the European Union ought to be fixed as a result of a series of talks with European Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, the first of which is due on Monday, Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said before leaving for Brussels.

 

"We are planning to start negotiations on this matter on Monday, and I hope that we will be able to finish them in the foreseeable future," Passy said.

 

"The progress Bulgaria has made over the last nine months is substantial enough to have a definite date of accession fixed," he said.

 

Passy's meeting with Verheugen will also be attended by Deputy Foreign Minister and Chief Negotiator with the EU Meglena Kouneva and Energy Minister Milko Kovachev. Passy expects that the nuclear power issue will be among the key topics of discussion with the European partners.

 

Asked about the expected duration of the talks on the accession date, Passy said they may take several months, if not less. He hopes for "clearer answers" before the end of the current Spanish presidency of the EU.

 

On Tuesday, Passy and Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov will attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in a 19 + 1 format (the member states and Bulgaria). The forum will discuss NATO's report on Bulgaria's progress towards membership.

 

The visiting delegation is also expected to meet with NATO Secretary General George Robertson.

 

Asked whether he expects more explicit assurances that the upcoming NATO Summit in Prague will invite Bulgaria to membership, Passy said such statements cannot be expected before the Reykjavik foreign ministerial in May.

 

"Tuesday's meeting will be one of the key events on the way to Prague. I am glad that it will be held several hours before Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's meeting with US President George W. Bush," Passy said.

 

"The lack of a law on classified information has been causing problems. We have discussed all provisions with NATO officials and we have received very good recommendations," Passy said, taking a question.

 

In Brussels, Minister Passy is also scheduled to confer with the following European Parliament officials: Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Elmar Brok, Greens/European Free Alliance Group Co-President Monica Frassoni, European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats Group Chairman Hans-Gert Poettering, and European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party Group Chairman Graham R. Watson.

 

The Foreign Minister will meet with US Representative to the European Union Rockwell Schnabe and will give a talk at the European Policy Centre.

 

The Bulgarian delegation also includes Deputy Ministers Sonya Yankoulova of Defence, Tonyo Zhelezchev of the Interior, Sofia Kassidova of the Economy and Krassimir Katev of Finance, and Major General Orlin Marinchev, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces.

 

 

 

January-March 2002 Crime Rate Down 15.9% from Year Earlier, Interior Minister Says.

 

Sofia, April 21 (BTA) - The rate of indictable offenses in Bulgaria in the first quarter of 2002 decreased 15.9 per cent from a year earlier, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov said on Radio NET Saturday.

 

"This figure shows not only the resolve of the government and the Interior Ministry to combat crime but also the tangible effect of the anti-crime efforts," Petkanov said.

 

Taking a question, the Minister said he has no information indicating that business groups have amalgamated with the incumbent government.

 

Petkanov also said that at a recent meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security he and Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Boiko Borissov proposed the same anti-crime measures. "All senior officers of the Interior Ministry, Major General Borissov included, contributed to the report which I delivered before the Consultative Council." The Chief Secretary raised some additional issues related primarily to the financial resources available to the Ministry, Petkanov said. The Minister denied having entered a conflict with
Borissov at the Consultative Council meeting.

 

Some 8.1 per cent of all jobs with the Interior Ministry are currently vacant, Petkanov said.

 

"The informers' records commission wanted to have absolutely unrestricted access to the Interior Ministry archive - a right which is not prescribed by law," Petkanov said. "The commission was practically allowed to examine all files it wanted to." He said he had denied requests to take police records away, and thus "put an end to an unlawful practice."

 

"It is not true that we have barred those people who were under State Security surveillance from reading their files; no such request was ever rejected," Petkanov said.