site.btaDecember 11, 2005: Georgi Parvanov Becomes First Bulgarian President to Visit Ireland

December 11, 2005: President Georgi Parvanov goes on a state visit to Ireland at the invitation of Ireland's president, Mary McAleese, making this the first state visit by a Bulgarian president to Ireland. 

During his visit, President Parvanov met with President McAleese, Prime Minister Bartholomew Ahern, Speaker of the House of Representatives Rory O'Hanlon, Senate President Rory Keely and Dublin Mayor Catherine Byrne. Accompanying the head of state in Ireland was a delegation including the National Assembly Deputy Chairman Lyuben Kornezov, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Asen Gagaouzov, Transport and Communications Minister Peter Moutafchiev and High Technologies Agency Chairman Plamen Vachkov. While in Dublin, President Parvanov also met with representatives of the Irish business community and opened the exhibition "Golden Pages from Bulgarian Medieval History".

Here is how the Bulgarian News Agency’s English service covered the event 20 years ago:

President Purvanov Leaves on a State Visit to Ireland

Sofia, December 11 (BTA) President Georgi Purvanov left on a state visit to Ireland at the invitation of his Irish counterpart Mary MacAleese. This is the first state visit by a Bulgarian head of state to Ireland. The visit, which will continue till December 13, will be on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the two country's accession to the UN.

During the visit President Purvanov will confer with President MacAleese, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, House of Representatives Speaker Dr Rory O'Hanlan, Senate Speaker Rory Kiely and Dublin Mayor Catherine Byrne.

The delegation headed by Purvanov includes National Assembly Deputy Chairman Lyuben Kornezov, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Asen Gagaouzov, Transport and Communications Minister Peter Moutafchiev and High Technologies Agency Chairman Plamen Vachkov.

In Dublin, Purvanov will also meet representatives of Irish business and will open a "Golden Pages of the Bulgarian Middle Ages" Exhibition.

President Purvanov Tells Irish Newspaper EU Will Benefit from Bulgaria's Entry

Dublin, December 12 (BTA Special Correspondent Anelia Tsvetkova)  

In its Monday issue, "The Irish Times" runs an interview with Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov, who has begun a state visit to Ireland.

Purvanov says the EU needs to overcome the enlargement fatigue and realize that Bulgaria will bring security, economic opportunities and cultural diversity when it joins the bloc in 2007.

Bulgaria is a good place for investment, he says. The country enjoys political stability, has a well-qualified labour force and up-to-date legislation conducive to international investment.

Purvanov says his country values the solidarity of its international partners with its efforts to help HIV-positive children in Libya and their families and to find a fair solution to the issue of the five Bulgarian nurses who are appealing death sentences in an HIV infection case in the North African country. Finding such a solution now seems more feasible than ever before, he says. 

Ireland to Ratify Bulgaria's EU Accession Treaty in Early 2006

Dublin, December 12 (BTA Special Correspondent Anelia Tsvetkova) 

Ireland will ratify Bulgaria's EU Accession Treaty. This is not linked to the monitoring report that the European Commission is to release in spring 2006. The process involves procedures for passage of amendments to Irish legislation before ratification of the Treaty, Irish President Mary MacAleese told Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov here on Monday, quoted by Purvanov's Press Secretary Boika Bashlieva.

Earlier in the day, Purvanov arrived on a state visit to Ireland, the first by a Bulgarian head of state to that country. After a formal welcoming ceremony in front of the Irish President's official residence, Aras an Uachtarain, President Purvanov and his host, President MacAleese, had a one-to-one session, followed by plenary talks between the two countries' official delegations.

At the meeting, MacAleese expressed Ireland's unqualified support for Bulgaria's targeted EU membership on January 1, 2007, as well as readiness to provide any kind of assistance to achieve these objectives.

The delegation accompanying Purvanov includes National Assembly Deputy Chairman Lyuben Kornezov, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Asen Gagaouzov, Transport and Communications Minister Peter Moutafchiev and High Technologies Agency Chairman Plamen Vachkov.

Also on Monday, President Purvanov conferred with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, House of Representatives Speaker Dr Rory O'Hanlan, and Senate Speaker Rory Kiely.

The talks focused on Irish expertise in European integration and in absorption of financing from EU pre-accession facilities and Structural Funds, as well as the promotion bilateral trade and economic relations, the opportunities to attract Irish investments to Bulgaria and the pursuit of cooperation in high technologies.

The opportunities for direct cooperation between Bulgarian and Irish municipalities and higher educational establishments and the possibilities to invigorate the cultural dialogue between the two countries were discussed as well.

In Dublin, Purvanov will pay a floral tribute to the War Memorial Gardens, will meet members of the Irish business community, and will open a "Golden Pages of the Bulgarian Middle Ages" Exhibition. 

According to figures released by the InvestBulgaria Agency, Irish direct investments in Bulgaria for 2004 totalled 20.3 million US dollars, ranking it a distant 19th among the home countries of FDI.

Bilateral cooperation prioritizes electronics, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. There are opportunities to attract Irish investments to infrastructure, telecommunications and the power industry. Bulgarian-Irish trade amounted to 63.6 million dollars for 2004 and nearly 33 million dollars for the first half of 2005.

The 11,460 Irish tourists who visited Bulgaria last year were 83 per cent more numerous than those who came in 2003. In January-June 2006, as many as 11,035 Irish tourists visited Bulgaria, 86.7 per cent up from the 5,910 who arrived in the same period of last year.

President Purvanov Says 2006 Decisive for Favourable Outcome of Case against Bulgarian Medics in Libya

Dublin, December 13 (BTA special correspondent Anelia Tsvetkova) 

President Georgi Purvanov described 2006 as decisive for the favourable outcome of the case against the five Bulgarian nurses in Libya, answering a question by a Bulgarian journalist in Dublin.

"I believe that next year will be decisive for the favourable outcome of this case," the head of state said.

Purvanov pointed to the contact established by the Bulgarian NGO Association for the Promotion of Bilateral Relations with Libya and representatives of the Association of the Families of Children Infected with AIDS in Benghazi.

"I believe this contact was useful and a very important step in the efforts to set up an international fund for helping the infected children and their families. This fund has a considerable European part but will hardly remain within the framework of Europe alone. It may change the attitude of the parents and a positive attitude on their part would be of paramount importance for the final decision of the court, the President added.

At the meetings the Bulgarian head of state had in Dublin the Irish side expressed Ireland's categorical support for the case of the Bulgarian medics. This support will continue both by expression of the country's moral and political stand and by its readiness to join the efforts to help the families of the infected children, President Purvanov said.

Tuesday is the last day of President Purvanov's state visit to Ireland. 

President Purvanov Meets Irish Business Representatives

Dublin, December 13 (BTA Special Correspondent Anelia Tsvetkova) 

Infrastructure, power industry and information technologies are among the spheres, which Bulgaria will develop in the future, President Georgi Purvanov said at a meeting with representatives of Irish business tuesday. The meeting was organised by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.

Purvanov noted that Bulgaria has well-developed agriculture and expressed hope that Ireland would discover this opportunity in bilateral economic relations. Fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables with very good quality are something Ireland can import from Bulgaria, the President said.

"Bulgaria is the country in Southeastern Europe with the most dynamically developing Irish whiskey market and I would like to see Ireland as the country with the most dynamically developing market of Bulgarian wine," Purvanov said. He also noted Irish interest in buying real estate in Bulgaria.

Active political dialogue was noted in the talks Purvanov had in Dublin with the Irish President, the Prime Minister, the House of Representatives Speaker and the Senate Speaker, but also insufficient development of economic relations between the two countries. Purvanov told the Irish businessmen that bilateral economic relations have good prospects.

The Bulgarian head of state said this country has its European perspective and is just a step away from EU membership, which should become a fact on January 1, 2007 and for which he received categorical assurance during the talks in Ireland. "Irish business has a year and several months in which it can step on the Bulgarian market," Purvanov noted.

Another argument for business in Bulgaria is political and economic stability. Several cabinets changed in the last ten years and all changes occurred without any tremors or a change in the strategic line of the country, Purvanov said and underscored the efforts of several consecutive Bulgarian governments to form a favourable environment for investments.

The actions of the incumbent tripartite coalition are received with confidence by our foreign economic and political partners, the Bulgarian head of state continued. He underscored that, stepping in Bulgaria, Irish business may also use our country as a bridgehead to a wider market, in Southeastern Europe as well as in the CIS countries with which Bulgaria maintains stable and predictable relations.

Today President Purvanov conferred with Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and Dublin Mayor Catherine Byrne. Later he will open a "Golden Pages of the Bulgarian Middle Ages" Exhibition.