on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts BULGARIA ON THE WAY TO NATO: TWELVE YEARS OF POLITICAL AND MILITARY EFFORTS

Mr. , President of the Republic of Bulgaria and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces with NATO Secretary General, Lord George Robertson in Brussels, February 2002

NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson and the then-President of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. at the NATO Aspirant Countries Defense Ministerial Meeting in , October 12-13, 2000

Mr. ( in 1991-1996) and Manfred Wîårner, then-NATO Secretary General during Mr. Zhelev’s visit in Brussels in 1991 Bulgaria for NATO – 2002

US President with President Petar Stoyanov during his visit in Bulgaria in November 1999

US President George W. Bush and Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Sax-Coburg Gotha during their meeting in Washington DC on April 23, 2002

Meeting of US President George W. Bush and the then-Prime Minister in April 2001 in Wahsington DC Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts

Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002) with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, May 1999

British Prime Minister Tony Blair delivers a speech in Bulgaria in May 1999 during the Kosovo campaign Bulgaria for NATO – 2002

Democratic succession in government ­ Ivan Kostov and Simeon Sax-Coburg Gotha in July 2001

Bulgarian Minister of Defense Nickolay Svinarov (since 2001) and the then-Minister of Defense Mr. Boyko Noev (1999-2001) Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts Dr. Solomon Passy, founding President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria and William Cohen, US Secretary of Defense in July 1997 (By courtesy of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria)

Mrs. Nadezhda Mihaylova, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the period 1997-2001 (now President of the Union of Democratic Forces and Vice- President of the European People’s Party) and Dr. Solomon Passy, the then-President of the Atlantic Club, now Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. Their efforts are a major contribution to Bulgaria’s Euro-Atlantic integration (By courtesy of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria) Bulgaria for NATO – 2002

Mr. Georgi Parvanov, President of the Republic of Bulgaria and General Joseph W. Ralston, US AF, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, February 2002

Minister of Defense Nickolay Svinarov and the Chief of the General Staff Col. Gen. Miho Mihov Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts Craig Kennedy, President of the German Marshall Fund of the delivers a lecture at the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria in December 1999 (By courtesy of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria)

Bruce P. Jackson, President of the US Committee on NATO and Dr. Solomon Passy, the then-President of Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, now Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, December 1999 (By courtesy of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria) Bulgaria for NATO – 2002

NATO Aspirant Countries Defense Ministerial Meeting in Sofia, October 2000

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and Mr. Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Coun- cil of the EU and High Repre- sentative for CFSP, February 2002

Col. Valeri Ratchev, “G. S. Rakovski” Defense and Staff College Deputy Commandant and Dean of National Security and Defense Faculty and Dr. Velizar Shalamanov, Deputy Minister of Defense (1998- 2001) Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts

Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, Secretary General Lord George Robertson and Minister of Defense Boyko Noev at the NATO Aspirant Countries Defense Ministerial Meeting in Sofia, October 12-13, 2000

The first democratically elected President of Bulgaria Zhelyu Zhelev (1991- 1997) with the then NATO Secretary General Javier Solana in Brussels,1996 Bulgaria for NATO – 2002 Bulgarian Army Land Forces exercises Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts Bulgarian Air Forces exercises Bulgaria for NATO – 2002 Bulgarian Navy exercises Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts

Bulgarian Army Land, Air and Navy exercises Bulgaria for NATO – 2002 Petar Stoyanov, President of Bulgaria (1997-2002) and the Turkish Brig. Gen. Hilmi Akin Zorlu, Commander of SEEBRIG - Multinational Peace Force Southeast Europe at the opening of the SEEBRIG HQ in , Bulgaria in September 1999.

PfP Cooperative Determination Exercise, Sofia, Bulgaria, December 1-6, 1998 Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts Joint military exercises with NATO forces

The Interoperability Center at the “G.S. Rakovski” Defense and Staff College Bulgaria for NATO – 2002 Bulgarian participation in SFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria on the Way to NATO: Twelve Years of Political and Military Efforts

Bulgarian Civil Protection Service unit rendered help during the earthquake in Turkey in 1999. The Turkish flag was received as an appreciation by the Turkish citizens

Bulgarian Army Nuclear-Biological-Chemical Protection unit. A similar unit was deployed in Afghanistan within ISAF Bulgaria for NATO – 2002