Posted on 03/30/2014 11:18:52 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
United States secretary of state Victoria Nuland is due in Sofia on March 31 to meet senior Bulgarian government officials on the eve of a Nato ministerial meeting at which the Russia-Ukraine situation is expected to dominate discussions.
There have been mixed signals in top political circles in Bulgaria on the Crimea crisis and the issue of sanctions against Russia.
While three out of four of the parties represented in Parliament agreed on a Consultative Council on National Security statement condemning Russian intervention in Ukraine and the current cabinet has said that it would not veto economic sanctions against Russia over Crimea, the Bulgarian Socialist Party – the party that holds the mandate on the basis of which the government was formed – has taken a firm stand against sanctions against Russia.
On March 26, the BSP called on the government to oppose economic sanctions against Russia, giving as the party’s reason the effect that these would have on Bulgaria’s economy.
“We should not only hold aloof regarding possible sanctions against Russia, but should be firmly against such sanctions,” the BSP said, while also echoing the Kremlin line against “nationalist party and pro-fascist groups in Ukraine”.
A day later, Kristian Vigenin, foreign minister in the BSP government, was reported to have told a regular gather of honorary consuls in Sofia, “while staying on the Euro-Atlantic track and not compromising its strategic orientation, Bulgaria also has an interest in maintaining mutually beneficial relations with Russia”.
Already, senior EU diplomats have viewed with concern some of the signals from senior government officials from Bulgaria.
The BSP not only has a background of cordial ties with Moscow, dating back from the party’s communist-era antecedents, but also uses the very dependence on Russian energy projects that it has a record of supporting as an argument against alienating Russia.
According to a state department statement ahead of Nuland’s visit to Sofia, she would discuss with senior Bulgarian government officials, “our shared commitment to TransAtlantic values as members of Nato, the development of our economic partnership, and Bulgaria’s energy diversification efforts”.
On April 1, she will join US secretary of state John Kerry in Brussels at the Nato foreign ministerial meeting.
In Chisinau, Nuland was at the centre of an announcement signalling US reassurances of support for the line that Moldova has taken in its current government’s pro-EU orientation – and the situation in which the country finds itself amid speculation about the future of Moldova’s Transdniester region, the latter frequently identified as possibly next up on Moscow’s menu.
Nuland announced a further $10 million in US assistance for Moldova’s border security.
She held talks with Moldovan president Nicolae Timofti, prime minister Iurie Leanca and foreign minister Natalia Gherman.
Nuland reiterated US support for Moldova’s independence, territorial integrity and path toward European integration, Washington’s embassy in Chisinau said.
Recently, some groups in Transdniester, an area locked in a frozen conflict over whether its future is with Russia or Moldova, called on Moscow to legislate to open the way for its accession to Russia, as had happened in Crimea.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has been quoted as saying that Moscow’s position is that Ukraine and Moldova are effectively “blocking” Transdniester.
After, unlike Ukraine whether Victor Yanukovych turned the country from its path toward the EU in late 2013 – a move that would lead to his downfall – Moldova stayed on track, significant steps have been made in easing the EU visa system for Moldovans.
Nuland said in Chisinau that the US looked forward to “all Moldovans – including those in (Transdniester) and (Gaguazia) benefitting from visa-free travel to Europe,” Radio Free Europe reported.
On March 27, Leanca was quoted as having told Reuters in an interview of his concerns about a “series of provocations” from Transdniester.
“Of course we are concerned because of the proximity [of the Ukrainian crisis] to our borders. We are concerned because we have a similar problem of an unrecognized Republic [of Transdniester] and we’ve had it for 23 years,” Leanca was quoted as saying.
The woman is an idiot. Should not be allowed out of the country.
Why was it a good idea to bring Bulgaria into the alliance?
Agreed!
In a sane world, and presuming a REal American President, she would have been fired long ago!
Howsomever, the world is not sane, we do not have a Real American President, and for parroting the Party line and supporting Ophonybama and Hitlery after the Benghazi murders, she was promoted!
And how can the State Dept give Bulgaria $10MM for border security? We can't even secure our borders here in America.
Nuland’s idea of Ukraine diplomacy and the EU, in a phone conversation recorded and released by spooks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_GShyGv3o
Astounding. These are the morons conducting US foreign policy, on an open, recorded cellular telephone intercept..
She was backing the neo-nazis to overthrow Yanukovich, which cost Ukraine the Crimea. Brilliant.
Most Bulgarians are pro-Moscow. Bulgarians see Russia as their historical liberator from the Ottoman Turks and Russians as a fraternal Slavic people. Sanctions against Russia do not go down well in Bulgaria.
Nuland was right when she said we should F the EU. The EU is dependent on Russian energy and they will sell out Ukraine to Russia as fast as they can. That’s why the USA must circumvent the EU to promote our own interests, not Russia’s or the EU’s.
She said she wanted Yatseniuk in the new government but not Klitschko, neither of whom are neo-nazis.
She should be booted out of her job for her part in covering up the Benghazi debacle.
Well here is her brilliant effort in full conversation with the ambassador - she is ready to get Biden on the case! That should fix everything!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIvRljAaNgg
The US needs a different channel to try to influence Ukraine.
She sounds like a scheming monster, picking who is and who is not going to be involved in the government of a nation in turmoil. No wonder Putin made his move to protect Russian interests.
Not most Bulgarians but the pretty big Russian Fifth column in Bulgaria (there are a lot of politicians and “businessmen” that enjoy the rubles), and sadly a quite numerous not-thinking sheeple there that have the same amount of brain cells as the obungo voters here.
And to answer some previous posts, in Bulgaria, the Russians have their Trojan horse in the EU and NATO.
President says Russia may push down to Romania - March 27, 2014 - The Romanian leader told defense ministry officials on Thursday that Moscow may have plans to grab territory in a pro-Russian separatist region in Moldova or in southern Ukraine "from Odessa to the mouth of the Danube to Chilia" — referring to areas in Romania next to the border with southern Ukraine. Basescu is outspoken about Russian influence in the region. In 2005 he said Russia treats the Black Sea like "a Russian lake."
In a sane world, no one would allow her inside their borders. Can any of these countries really afford a globalist-inspired coup?
Klitschko decided not to run for President so it looks like she has gotten her way. Was she wrong? Should Klitschko have accepted the position of Prime Minister under the Russian puppet Yanukovich? That was the EU plan. I say F that stupid EU plan. It’s good that Klitschko is not running because the pro-Ukrainian west should not split their vote. That’s how the traitorous pro-Russian east got in control in the first place.
Yes, you are right, but Yatseniuk cannot control these nationalist guys. This is a good set of interviews by the BBC: this is what Russia is really worried about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SBo0akeDMY
I spent some time in Ukraine during the Orange revolution and afterward: and including in the Crimea. Russians pretty much owned Crimea already. Kiev is Ukrainian, yet the country is very divided with ethnic Russians very strong in the east, and in the south west.
It is like Russia there, with no rules. Scary, really. People are generally either angry, or drunk, or both.
Its only called arm-twisting when the other guy does it, right Victoria?
It’s all about money....and we are the major funder of the IMF. That’s $18 bil and another $bil to get them going.
The first sentence is a lie. John F Kerry (served in Vietnam) is the US Secretary of State.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.