What Unites Bulgaria and Ukraine

On September 5 President Leonid Kuchma’s two-day state visit to Bulgaria ended, resulting in the signing of seven documents between the two states, including, inter alia, agreements on social security, transit via Bulgaria of the Ukrainian military contingent participating in KFOR peace-keeping operations in Kosovo, the acceptance and extradition of persons illegally staying in either country, cooperation in fighting crime, and a protocol on cooperation in the customs issues.

Relations between Ukraine and Bulgaria have never been clouded by any significant problems. The most high-profile one ever, but which could not have any negative effect on our relations, was the arrest of two Ukrainians suspected of being implicated in the murder of the former Bulgarian Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov. The possible echo of this old case might have been the signing by Bulgarian and Ukrainian presidents of several documents on cooperation in law- enforcement. Another problem facing citizens of both countries is the introduction, on Bulgaria’s initiative, of a visa regime as of October 1, 2001. Bulgaria, one of the few Central European countries requesting accession to the European Union, has not banned the free entry of Ukrainians as have Poland, Hungary, and Romania. The Ukrainian president believes the introduction of visas between Ukraine and Bulgaria should be postponed from October 1, 2001 until next year. UNIAN quotes Kuchma as saying, “We would like to see the transition to the visa regime between our countries extended.” He also said that the visa regime is “a Bulgarian problem, not a Ukrainian one.”

The Bulgarian and Ukrainian leaders also discussed how to step up economic cooperation, saying they were not satisfied with its present level. For example, in the first six months alone trade between Ukraine and Bulgaria shrank by 50% from last year’s period. Meeting with Bulgarian businessmen in Sofia, Pres. Kuchma noted that both in Ukraine and Bulgaria there is one common problem: “people do not have the kind of life they could.” Bulgarians and Ukrainians have something in common, except for the fact that Bulgaria is on the EU waiting list and Ukraine is not, that Bulgaria is actively knocking at the NATO door, and Ukraine has other priorities at least for the time being, which Kuchma explained by the fact that “Bulgaria has always been a state and Ukraine became independent only ten years ago.”