Union pledges to speed up delivery of aid to Bulgaria

Date: 22/04/1999

By Simon Taylor

THE EU will try to rush through plans to provide €100 million in financial aid to Bulgaria to help the country cope with the effects of the Kosovo conflict.

But EU governments are not expected to increase the total sum available, despite appeals from Sofia, which insists that more money is needed to offset the economic effects of the crisis which is costing the country €950 million a day in lost trade.

" We will try to get the aid through the usual channels more quickly than normal because of the problems in Bulgaria," said one EU diplomat.

He suggested that the whole process - securing authorisation from both EU finance ministers and the European Parliament to release the money - could be completed in less than the three months usually required.

Bulgarian officials said this week that they would ask the Union to increase the planned aid. While they were reluctant to indicate exactly how much money Bulgaria would seek, they have hinted that it needs substantially more than the Union is prepared to give.

One admitted that it would be hard to persuade EU governments to increase the €100-million figure, which was approved in principle at a meeting in Brussels this week.

He added, however, that an action plan drawn up in Sofia to counter the effects of the Kosovo crisis would explore "all sources of assistance".

At a meeting of EU government officials and representatives from international lending institutions such as the World Bank this week, the different organisations presented their assessment of the state of Bulgaria's economy, taking into account the impact of the recent NATO bombing of targets in Serbia.

The most direct impact on Bulgaria's trade has been caused by the blocking of the Danube by the wreckage of a bombed bridge in Yugoslavia.

In a separate decision, the European Commission has decided to give Albania €62 million and Montenegro €13 million to offset the impact of the Kosovo crisis. Macedonia's share of the remaining €25-million worth of aid will be decided later.

The money for Tirana is intended for health, education and public order projects. Podgorica's aid is to provide health care and assistance with accommodation for the Kosovar refugees flooding into Montenegro since NATO started its bombing campaign.