This is what the foreign-affair minister of Bulgaria, Ivailo Kalfin, said in an interview for Maria Spassova and Stoil Topalov after the meetings of the NATO- Russia council and the ministers from the OSCE members, that took place on the Greek island Corfu.

-                   Mr. Kalfin, how would you assess the yesterday meeting between NATO and Russia? Which were the topics prevailing- those that unify the two sides or the ones that strain their relationships, like Georgia and the missile defense in Europe?

-                   Since August, last year, this is the first meeting after the interruption of NATO- Russia relations. Practically, this dialog has been renewed yesterday, along with all the obstacles after a year-long stagnation and strong tension in relation to Georgia. What became clear yesterday was that both NATO and Russia are willing to continue their dialog after the meeting that ended yesterday. An important fact is that Russia confirmed the renewing of military collaboration with NATO. It was confirmed that stronger collaboration between the two sides is needed regarding Afghanistan and the war against drug trafficking, piracy and terrorism. This clearly outlines the topics that will concern NATO and Russia in their future collaboration.  

This, however, does not mean that future NATO- Russia relationships will be cloudless and unproblematic. Russia has quite acutely set forth the issues concerning different safety levels and the principal of undivided security in Europe. This is a topic that deserves discussion but it cannot be claimed that security is an even-out game, meaning, when it increases for one it drops for another. Therefore, this is a general understanding with significant disagreements on. Strengthening security in Europe is not happening on Russia’s account but this is wrongly perceived by Moscow. Apparently this issue is up for discussion in the future as well. The important thing is that the dialog and collaboration have been restarted and the problems dividing the two sides were brought up for discussion.

-                   You mentioned renewed military relationship between NATO and Russia. Does this mean that collaborative military practices should be expected at a border region, like Black Sea?

-                   There are no such ideas concerning Black Sea for now. However, Russia did participate in Operation Active Endeavour, in which it received an invitation to participate again, and I hope it does. The practices usually take place in the Mediterranean. Russia ceased participation; it has been confirmed that it will be re-established where needed.

-                   Today you took part in the foreign-affair ministers from OSCE meeting, as well, where conversations about the new security architecture in Europe began. Where does Bulgaria stand in this architecture and what is Bulgaria’ s general position on the issue?

-                   Bulgaria has a lot to say regarding security in Europe after the constant efforts during the past years, successful efforts, on stabilizing the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The Balkans per se are an example of a territory constantly shaken by wars and conflicts, that managed to find common collaboration points and common priorities, which to follow in its development. This approach need to be transferred to the rest of Europe. Couple of months ago, Russia proposed a plan by the President Medvedev introducing a new frame, new mechanism, new structure of European security, which we and our partners are ready to discuss, following, however, the context of the previous institutions, of sticking to previous agreements on contracts, including the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, in which Russia’s participation was suspended. Instead of creating new structures, the potential of the already existing ones should be found.

            Next in our demands is a balanced approach. In 1975, the beginning of the Helsinki process, leading to the creation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the world was in the worst phase of the Cold War. Even then though, heads of states agreed upon developing collaboration in three dimensions- military security, economy, and human rights. Therefore we insist today that those principles should be observed. Of course, we do need to collaborate on military matters but this should be done taking into consideration human rights and agreements in this area. Observed, as well, should be agreements on economic, ecologic, and energetic issues.

-                   Lately, there has been a topic of a great interest- the presidential elections and the following situation in Iran. Was it raised at the past two meetings?

-                   There have been two European-presidency announcements concerning Iran so far. A new position of the Union has also been discussed. The common opinion is that the violence- approach used to disperse peaceful demonstrations is not acceptable. On the other hand, it is believed that an adequate response is in order concerning the demands about honesty and credibility of the elections and the results. Overall, there is a consideration in relation to the political processes taking place in Iran. The European Union will propose a pack of measures showing respect to the Iranian independence and sovereignty but at the same time expressing its consideration about observing the universal human values.

-                   Short before you arrived at Corfu, you and your Serbian colleague, Vuk Jeremic, had a talk about setting free the former Kosovan Prime Minister Agim Ceku, who was arrested in Bulgaria following a demand from the Serbian state. Did you manage now to clear your disagreements?

-                   The disagreement stem mainly from the fact that we look on this case as a legal one. Bulgarian court’s decision is very well reasoned through number of international agreements. Serbia looks on the case as a political one. This is not a political issue and should not be involved in the relationships between the two countries. Bulgarian court has observed the law.

-                   No tension exists between Bulgaria and Serbia on this matter.

-                   We believe that tension should not exist. Of course, there is a certain negative reaction present in Serbia but if we are to respect the international legal system we need to admit that this is a juridical matter and it was solved in accordance with legal principals.