WGA 2020 | Bulgaria | Conclusions

Conclusions

Question:
Overall, in what ways and with what success has your country implemented a WGA? What would you consider the success factors underpinning a WGA in your country?

Bulgaria Expert

Antoinette Primatarova

Director European Programme, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia

Antoinette Primatarova has been Director of the European Programme of the Sofia-based thinktank Centre for Liberal Strategies (CLS) since 2002. She is a Member of the National Advisory Board of the Diplomatic Institute attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. Prior to joining the CLS, she held various positions within the Bulgarian diplomatic service. From 1993 to 1997, she was based in Stockholm as Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Sweden, Norway and Iceland. From 1997 to 2001, she was directly involved in the process of Bulgaria’s preparation for EU accession as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999), Ambassador to the European Communities and Head of the Bulgarian Mission to the EC in Brussels (1999–2001), and Deputy Chief Negotiator (2000–2001). Antoinette holds a master’s degree in Germanic Studies from the University in Leipzig, and pursued an academic career at the University of Sofia prior to joining the diplomatic service.

Bulgaria
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Bulgaria has opted not to operationalise or institutionalise a WGA to external conflicts and crises at the national level. What’s more, to presuppose that the eventual institutionalisation of a WGA would increase the level of Bulgarian involvement and effectiveness in responding to such events would be highly speculative.

However, Bulgaria does explicitly support the 2016 EUGS, and general references to it are part of both public and internal documents of various ministries and the government. The 2018 National Security Strategy (National Assembly of Bulgaria 2018) concludes with a statement that it builds upon “a comprehensive approach to security”, but it does not include any explicit definition of comprehensive approach. In the Bulgarian context, a ‘comprehensive approach’ implies awareness of the multi-level complexity of challenges that need to be addressed not only at the local and national levels, but also at the regional and global ones. This understanding explains the importance that Bulgaria attaches to multilateral cooperation within the framework of NATO, the EU and other multilateral organisations and operations.

With regard to development policy, bilateral aid is only a small part of Bulgaria’s rather low level of overall contributions, with the lion’s share being channelled through the relevant multilateral body or bodies. Similarly, coordination at the EU, NATO, OSCE and UN levels is essential for the effectiveness of the missions in which Bulgaria participates in fulfilling its membership obligations. This might explain why Bulgarian tends to view the need for a WGA to external conflicts and crises as an issue to be addressed at the European and international levels rather than at the national one.

References to external conflicts and crises in Bulgarian political debates and policy documents are always related to the nexus of internal and external security. Political consensus and a supportive public opinion are important preconditions for Bulgarian involvement in external conflicts and crises.

Bulgaria Report