I'm really pleased that Bulgaria has joined NATO, says in an interview with the Standart News daily in Prague Dr Edgar Buckley, NATO ASG Defence Planning and Operations.

NATO has invited Bulgaria and 6 other East-European countries to join at the Prague Summit on Thursday. Bulgaria has been working very hard for a long time together with NATO international staff to make this decision possible, says Dr Buckley. "I'm very pleased with the decision for all the invited countries".

Dr Buckley stressed that Bulgaria has done extremely well in getting its planning under control and says that now the countries needs to implement these plans and implement the restructuring of these forces. NATO is going to help in this process just as it does with all the allies.

It's a new chapter that's opening for Bulgaria, says Dr Buckley.

Bulgaria has a right to join the alliance, he stressed.

Asked about if NATO expects Bulgaria to support an action against Iraq Dr Buckley says: "Bulgaria will make its own decisions. If Bulgaria is a NATO member, and NATO is asked to do something, Bulgaria will have to join in that decision alongside all the other allies. It wouldn't be a question of NATO expecting Bulgaria to do something, it would be a question of NATO including Bulgaria in deciding to do something".

 

 

Opposition's No-Confidence Motion Is Precipitated, According to National Assembly Chairman O. Gerdjikov.

Sofia, November 23 (BTA) - According to National Assembly Chairman Ognyan Gerdjikov, the motion for no-confidence in the Government submitted by the United Democratic Forces (UDF) is a precipitated and ill-considered act of the opposition at a moment when Bulgaria has two serious foreign political successes: an invitation to join NATO and specifying January 1, 2007 as target date of its accession to the European Union. Gerdjikov made this statement in an interview for Darik Radio on Saturday.

On Tuesday, the United Democratic Forces (UDF), the leading force in the UtdDF coalition, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) said they would move for no-confidence in the Government, claiming it did not defend this country's national interests in the energy sector. The UDF, which is the right-wing opposition in Parliament, submitted the no-confidence motion to the secretariat of the National Assembly. The BSP intends to do the same next week.

The UDF motivates its motion by what is described as gross and unprecedented violation of the Constitution. Presenting on October 4, 2002 Bulgaria's common position to the Intergovernmental Conference on Bulgaria's accession to the EU, the Government did not comply with the decision of the National Assembly adopted on October 2 concerning units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, the UDF press centre said giving the reasons for the no-confidence motion.

"To move for no-confidence on these grounds is too premature because there is not anything final yet that could justify an attack on the Government because of its policy regarding the N-plant," Gerdjikov said. In his view, if there is difference in the positions of the Government and Parliament on the N-plant, it is a matter of nuances.

Gerdjikov believes that the no-confidence motion will consolidate the ruling majority. The experience so far shows that even there is internal tension among the incumbents, they mobilize and consolidate when faced by a no-confidence motion, he said.

"I do not see anything dramatic taking place in the parliamentary group of the Simeon II National Movement (SNM) that could make one worry," Gerdjikov said, expressing his opinion that all things in the group were going relatively well.

"The ruling majority can categorically cope with the no-confidence motion submitted by the UtdDF, as well as with a no-confidence motion proposed by the Left because there are no grounds for such motions," Plamen Panayotov, First Deputy Chairman and Floor Leader of SNM, said in Doupnitsa (Southwestern Bulgaria).

"The Government position on the Kozloduy N-plant supported by the decision of the National Assembly is the possibly most responsible one," Panayotov said. He said that the ruling majority was not seeking to achieve one priority at the expense of another. "What we say is both the N-plant and the EU," he added.

Responding to a question, Panayotov said that there would be no split at the SNM and that there were no objective reasons for a split. The vote polled in support of the 2003 national budget bill at first reading is indicative in this respect, he said. Asked if he expects some changes in the budget before its adoption at second reading, Panayotov said it was possible to find better solutions for some items.

 

WARSAW, Poland - Bulgaria's Zlatan Vasilev won the gold medal Saturday in the men's 85-kilogram category while Russia's Svetlana Khabirova won the title in the women's 75-kilogram division at the World Weightlifting Championships.
 

Vasilev, earlier known as Vanev, snatched 167.5 kilograms, lifted 217 in the clean and jerk and finished with a total of 385 kilograms.

Georgia's Gheorghe Asanidze reached the same total, but finished second because he was heavier. Asanidze was better than Vasilev in the snatch, with 177.5 kilograms, but lifted just 207.5 kilograms in the clean and jerk.

Third was Belarussian Ruslan Novikov, with a snatch of 172.5 kilograms, a clean and jerk of 207.5 and a total of 380.

Khabirova beat world champion and record holder Sun Ruiping of China and won the title with a lift of 117.5 kilograms in snatch, 145 kilograms in the clean and jerk for a total of 262.5.

"This is the success of my life. I will remember Warsaw very warmly," Khabirova said.

Ruiping, in her last attempt at gold, jerked the 150 kilograms needed to beat Khabirova, but she failed to lift it over her head.

Visibly in weak form, Ruiping finished second with 115 kilograms in the snatch, 145 in the clean and jerk for a total of 260 kilograms. She set three world records at the Asian Games in October.

"I wanted the world champion title more than the gold at Asian Games," said Ruiping, who set three world records at the Asian Games in October. "I was very tired after the games, my injured hip is giving me trouble again."

The bronze medal went to Russia's Ludmila Arefeyeva, who was far behind the top two with 112.5 kilograms in the snatch, 125 in the clean and jerk and a total of 237.5.

 

 

Standartnews
Antoaneta Peteva

PM's daughter Kalina and her husband Kitin Munos who are on a honey-moon trip spent ten days on a small island in the Pacific Ocean, press-secretary of the Royal family Valya Dicheva said yesterday. On Thursday Kalina and Kitin arrived in Bulgaria to personally congratulate Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on the NATO invitation. The newly-married couple is to spend several days in our country.