Bulgaria Is Urgently Seeking an Enemy

Bulgaria urgently needs to find an enemy in order to excuse the presence of the U.S. anti-missile shield in its territory. The construction of the defense shield has begun, but we still do not know who it will defend us form. The problem is so serious that it is almost comical.

The American ambassador, James Warlick, told Sega that he expects Bulgaria to offer to host the U.S. anti-missile shield, which will be directed against threats from the Middle East, and not from Russia. The prime minister, Boyko Borisov, was so surprised to hear about the ambassador’s expectations from Bulgaria that he promised to ask the European Union about what Bulgaria should offer. Meanwhile, Bulgaria still has its own foreign ministry and foreign policy.

The Romanian president, Traian Basescu, was the one who started the problem. On February 4, he surprised us with the news that Romania will host the U.S. anti-missile shield, which will begin operations in 2015. Traian Basescu explained that he could not turn down the invitation to host the defense shield because the invitation came from President Obama personally. The defense shield was initially supposed to be located in Poland and the Czech Republic, but the U.S. scrapped its plans in an effort not to irritate Russia. Now the missiles are going to Romania, and Bulgaria turns out to be the most convenient place for the radar. But unlike Romania, Bulgaria did not receive a personal invitation from President Obama. Moreover, Bulgaria is “expected” to offer its hospitality.

Boyko Borisov is now in an unusual situation. True, for the past 20 years Bulgaria has not refused the US anything, but never before did it have to guess what American wishes were. Even if a country does not have national pride, it must at least pretend that it does. Now, it turns out that America sees Bulgarian territory as an appendage to Romanian [territory].

The only way for Bulgaria to save its national pride is to show that it has its own reasons to worry about security. The danger from Iran, as suggested by the U.S., could be a good excuse but it means that we have to quickly spoil our relations with Iran, which have traditionally been good. The prime minister could, as usual, blame the Sergei Stanishev’s old government. On June 11, 2007, President Georgy Parvanov met with his American counterpart, George Bush, and tried to convince him to extend the defense shield into the Balkans. Parvanov and his foreign minister, Ivaylo Kalfin, tried hard to support Russia’s hypothesis that that the shield was not directed against missiles from the south, because its location in Poland and the Czech Republic prevented it from protecting southern Europe. Surprised by the Bulgarian request, Bush evaded it, but four months later he gave a positive sign. Since then, Bulgaria has still not thanked the U.S. for its generosity and has not expressed worries about the Iranian danger. The current Bulgarian government needs to finish the job of the previous government.

Borisov found himself in an absurd situation because if he does not offend the Americans, he will anger the Russians. But he chose the right way: to ask the E.U. Why? The EU does not hold a collective position regarding the U.S. defense shield for at least two reasons. First, the common E.U. security policy is still in its beginning phase. Second, the disagreements between the E.U. members about the anti-missile shield are so great that the debate bore no fruit when the issue was first discussed in the European parliament on June 28, 2007. The issue has not been discussed since then.

So, if you do not want something to happen, drag it on. The E.U.’s excuse is very convenient: there will not be a common E.U. position on the defense shield, and Bulgaria is in no hurry. Romania, which has always outmatched us in servility toward the U.S., will be enough for the Americans. When Romania applied to host the “Polish” missiles, it was not sure if it would get them, so it boasted that it had modernized its radars, that is, Romania was able to take over the role of both Poland and the Czech Republic in the case that Bulgaria refuses to host the “Czech” radar. In this way, Bucharest placed a request for both the missiles and the radar. But this is not all, as the advertisements say. This week it became clear that Basescu has the chance to also attract the Russian missiles “Iskander,” which would have otherwise been directed from Kaliningrad to Poland.

So the question is what follows for Bulgaria’s national security? If Romania will keep us safe from the North, the threat from Russia is out of the question. There is no danger from the South either, because Macedonia has got our back there. Wasn’t the father of the Macedonian nation, Alexander the Great, the one who stopped Persia’s last attempt to conquer Europe? If Iran recaps its history, it will most likely not become our enemy. So, Americans, forgive us, but there is no reason for us to carry your umbrella.