Bulgaria: Bulgaria was on course to join the European Union by 2007, the country's Foreign Minister, Dr Solomon Passy, said on a visit to Dublin, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Negotiations were due to be concluded by 2004 but Bulgaria had already satisfied EU requirements on 26 of the 31 chapters of the acquis communautaire, the comprehensive body of EU legislation.
"We shall be ready to conclude negotiations on these chapters before the end of the Irish presidency," said Dr Passy, a 46-year-old former professor of mathematical logic and computer science at Sofia University.
He pointed out that the European Commission "gave us a very good report" which reflected the progress his country had made in adapting its legislation to EU norms.
He said that in the last few years, economic growth had reached 4.8 to 5 per cent.
"We have a reduction of the unemployment by 10 per cent. Inflation is between 3 and 5 per cent. We have a stable financial and macroeconomic situation in the country."
Bulgaria is probably best known in Ireland as a tourist destination and, according to Dr Passy, there had been a 10 per cent increase in revenue from tourism over the past year.
"We are expecting more than 10 per cent this year as well and also for 2005."
Bulgaria and Romania are progressing in tandem towards EU membership, and the Minister hopes they will join at the same time.
They lag behind the 10 accession countries which are to become EU members next May.
"Maybe we started a little bit later than the 10 but we proceeded to catch up."
The current Bulgarian government is the third in a row to carry out reforms, and Dr Passy said some of these changes had been "very painful".
Negotiations on the energy chapter of the acquis were particularly difficult for the public to accept.
"It is a very sensitive issue for Bulgaria."
The country originally had six nuclear power stations, producing almost 40 per cent of Bulgaria's electricity, some of it for export. Two of them were shut down last year, two are considered safe by EU standards and the jury is still out on the pair that remain.
In the foreign policy area, Bulgaria supported the Iraq war. "Bulgaria is very close to Iraq: we have a common neighbour, Turkey. The regime of Saddam Hussein was considered a threat to peace in the region."
For this reason, Bulgaria supported what he calls the "liberation" of the Iraqi people.
"Moreover, we the Bulgarians have the bitter experience of living under a dictatorship for almost half a century and we remember very well what it means."
As a result, Bulgaria was "the natural ally and friend" of the Iraqi people. Five hundred Bulgarian troops were sent to Iraq and about 50 to Afghanistan but "thank God" there had been no casualties. Such operations had their risks - "but it is of course our duty".