Treat us with dignity, Bulgarian leader warns

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev is struggling to ease the conditions that will be attached to his country joining the EU on 1 January 2007, so as to make them more palatable to voters.

He told European Voice that the European Commission should take into account public opinion in Bulgaria when it decides what restrictions should be imposed on the country’s membership of the EU.

The Commission is expected to announce on 26 September that Bulgaria and Romania are ready to join the EU on 1 January, but it could recommend excluding Bulgaria from judicial co-operation and insist on tough monitoring after accession.

"The presentation of many of the issues and the measures is not less important than the substance," Stanishev said, adding that "perceptions are not only important for European public opinion but for my people as well".

"Many Bulgarians may feel insulted if the presentation of the measures is wrong," he said.

Stanishev called for Bulgaria to be allowed a "dignified EU entry" and called on the Commission to recognise the "effort of the Bulgarian people".

"We have produced enough evidence to the European Commission and member states to demonstrate that Bulgaria is on the right track."

He wants the language used in the Commission’s report sweetened, particularly the presentation of the conditions attached to his country’s EU membership, preferring to see the report use terms such as "assisting" or "accompanying measures" instead of "monitoring" or "safeguard clauses" - which could convey the impression that Bulgaria was being offered a restricted membership of the EU.

Stanishev is also concerned about how it might play with public opinion at home if neighbouring Romania, which had previously lagged behind Bulgaria, faced less stringent accession terms.

During a meeting with Commission President José Manuel Barroso in Strasbourg on Tuesday (6 September), Stanishev asked that Romania and Bulgaria be treated equally. Barroso reportedly answered that the two countries would be treated equally in so far as the methodology used to assess their preparedness was concerned, but that the recommendations would be based on each country’s progress.

Stanishev said: "My perception is that the two countries are more or less at the same level of readiness for European accession. Anything else may be perceptions or imposed perceptions."

But a senior Commission official said it was clear there was "an objective difference between Romania and Bulgaria, which was visible since the 2005 monitoring report".

Gergana Noutcheva, a Bulgarian political analyst, said that any suggestion that Bulgaria faced tougher monitoring than Romania or that membership came with significant strings attached was likely to be politically damaging to Stanishev. "There is a coalition government and EU membership is the glue that holds them together. If they are seen as failing then [for Stanishev] there is a very serious risk that the opposition may try and take advantage of this."

Stanishev said that the unpopularity of enlargement inside the EU had limited the Commission’s room for manoeuvre. "The political environment in the Union is different and the Commission is under pressure from public opinion, being many times accused that it is generally pro-enlargement for strategic reasons and it has to prove that it is credible," he said.

"Bulgaria will be a good member of the European Union… you will be surprised," Stanishev said.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev is struggling to ease the conditions that will be attached to his country joining the EU on 1 January 2007, so as to make them more palatable to voters.