site.btaPM on Bulgaria-Greece Declaration on Arda River: Bulgaria's National Interest Is Protected to Maximum

During Question Time in Parliament here on Friday, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said that Bulgaria's national interest is protected to the maximum in the joint intergovernmental declaration with Greece on Arda River. "However, I would like to stress that there is no regime of dominance and subordination in inter-neighbourly relations," he added, taking a question by Angel Slavchev MP of Vazrazhdane  about a joint intergovernmental political declaration between Bulgaria and Greece on the use of the Arda's waters.

Zhelyazkov recalled that the 60-year agreement whereby Bulgaria supplied Greece with water from Arda River for agricultural irrigation purposes, had expired. "Our view is that a five-year political declaration, with annual compensation agreements, is the best approach," Zhelyazkov said. In his words, tying it to other bilateral relations would be more detrimental to the national interest than this political agreement. The subject of the annual agreements will be the amount of compensation for Bulgaria's regulated water supply, Zhelyazkov also explained.

"What is the subject of bilateral relations is the compensation that we should receive for withholding water in certain parts of the day, then supplying volumes in a controlled way within the natural runoff and after meeting all needs," the Prime Minister explained. These are not potable waters, he assured. He said the power and agriculture systems are also not being disturbed. In his words, when the irrigation system is built, this will be taken into consideration.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Greece have signed on behalf of the governments of the two countries a Joint Intergovernmental Political Declaration on the use of the Arda River waters, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in response to BTA's inquiry whether the two countries had signed such a document in May this year, with what commitments and deadlines.