This latest issue of my regular newsletter describes the Embassy’s key activities from March until the end of August 2009.

It has been an important six months on the Bulgarian domestic political scene, with the parliamentary elections at the beginning of July bringing a decisive victory for GERB, led by Boyko Borissov.  Establishing close working relations with the new Ministerial teams is a key priority for the Embassy.  PM Borissov has made clear that this government will step up efforts to root out corruption and organised crime, including implementing all the recommendations by the European Commission in their latest annual report, published in July, under the so called Co-operation and Verification Mechanism.  We welcome this step-change in approach.

The global agenda for the last six months has continued to be dominated by the global economic crisis.  Bulgaria’s economy, like the UK’s, has gone into recession.  We worked intensively with Bulgaria and with our other EU partners in the run up to the crucial G20 Summit hosted by Gordon Brown in London in April which agreed a package of key measures to stimulate the world economy.  We are now gearing up for the follow up G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September.

Energy security has continued to be a dominant issue.  In April I represented the UK, as an observer, at the Natural Gas Summit hosted by President Parvanov in Sofia, and the important high level business forum that was linked to it.  It was a valuable opportunity to discuss some of the lessons learned from the winter gas crisis, and to assess the prospects for the different pipeline projects.  Bulgaria, due to its geostrategic location, is a key player.  I am pleased that a British company – Melrose Resources – is playing a leading role in Bulgaria’s domestic production – operating Bulgaria’s only current offshore field at Galata, with good prospects for future production at two nearby fields.

Trade & Investment

Exporting is a key element in helping companies through and out of EU recession.  My trade team – UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Sofia – therefore continues to be busy helping UK companies to explore the Bulgarian market and to identify local partners.  In the last six months we have hosted many receptions and seminars to promote British companies and their products and services.  This included a trade mission from Northern Ireland, with more than 20 companies participating.  My team also visited 7 UK regions to promote opportunities for British companies in Bulgaria in sectors like water, ports, education and security.  I myself briefed business representatives at seminars in Manchester and the East Midlands, together with the Head of the UKTI team Tanya Koicheva.

Help for British nationals

New passport arrangements for British nationals in Bulgaria have been introduced.  From 16 February 2009, UK passport applications from customers living in Bulgaria are being processed and issued by the British Passport Processing Centre in Düsseldorf which is part of the British Consulate General, Düsseldorf, Germany. These changes are part of a global initiative to rationalise passport services and reduce administration costs while ensuring that the quality of service remains high. The passport team in Düsseldorf aim to issue new passports within 10 working days of receiving the correct documentation (excluding transit time).  So far the new arrangements have been working very well.  

Global Out of Hours Response Centre

On 27 May 2009 Bulgaria became part of the FCO Global Out of Hours programme.  British Nationals in Bulgaria needing emergency assistance, or those calling on behalf of a British National requiring help (outside of Embassy opening hours) are asked to call the Embassy Switchboard on +359 (0)2 933 9222 in the first instance from where they will be redirected to the Foreign Office's Global Response Centre in the United Kingdom.  The Response Centre is able to offer immediate advice.  The calls are charged at local call rates and may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.  Initial feedback from both consular customers and from staff suggests that the new Response Centre is working very well.

Defence

Sadly at the end of March, the Defence Section at the Embassy as part of a wider review directed at balancing the needs of Defence Diplomacy with the increasing budgetary pressures on the UK Ministry of Defence.  Nevertheless, we are committed to maintaining an active defence relationship through my Defence Attaché, Col Nigel Moore, who although based in Bucharest, will be seen in Sofia on a regular basis.We warmly welcome the new Government’s commitment to maintaining Bulgaria’s military engagement in Afghanistan.  Bulgarian armed forces are part of the coalition of NATO allies engaged in the difficult, dangerous but vital task of building peace and nurturing stability and prosperity in Afghanistan.

Many people are surprised to learn that there are two Commonwealth War Graves in Bulgaria, in Sofia and Plovdiv.  They are fine memorials to those British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in this region in the First and Second World Wars.

In April the Director General of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Richard Kellaway, visited Bulgaria and met the gardeners who maintain them so beautifully.

Social Inclusion

In June I and twelve other Ambassadors sent messages of support for the Rainbow Friendship rally in Sofia, and the celebration of diversity that it represented.  The right of  equality, irrespective of sexual orientation, is a core value of the EU.  I was delighted that the parade was successful.  Much credit is due to the municipal and police authorities for their sensitive handling.

I was also delighted to be able to attend an award ceremony in Pernik in June, organised by the Union of Disabled People to celebrate the achievements of those with disabilities.  It was a moving and inspiring occasion.

Slaveiko (Slavi) Shankov from Doganovo's (east of Sofia, near Elin Pelin) Home for Children Deprived of Parental Care, visited the Embassy on 18 May. He spent the day shadowing work in the sections of the Embassy.  As Slavi was also interested in photography, a meeting with a professional photographer was arranged along with a visit to Re:TV where he was shown around.

Slavi is one of 165 children included in the PHARE project 'Improvement of the Situation and Inclusion of Disadvantaged Ethnic Minorities with a Special Focus on Roma'. One of the main activities of the project is to support pupils (mainly Roma) in primary education grades 7th/8th to enable them to continue their education in secondary schools.

Chevening Programme

Chevening Fellowships are awards for study on short courses that focus on particular subjects aligned to the FCO’s Strategic Framework. Fellowships are aimed at mid-career professionals in positions of leadership and influence (or in line for such positions) who are active in the field of the fellowship subject.  Chevening scholars and fellows are a valuable asset for us in promoting closer ties between the UK and Bulgaria and I am delighted that there is now an active Chevening Alumni association, which meets regularly. The British Council works with the Embassy in administering the Chevening Fellowships.

In May, I had the pleasure to present certificates to Bogdana Grigorova and Eli Manolova, the two latest Chevening Fellows from Bulgaria.  Both Bogdana and Eli successfully completed a 3-month Fellowship in European Political Economy studies from Sussex University in the UK.  I wished Bogdana and Eli all success in their future careers.

British Council

In March Sofia hosted the first international final of the Skills@Work Challenge for young entrepreneurs gathering participants from vocational schools in 9 East European countries and the UK. I attended the final presentations given by these teenagers who were asked to develop projects on E-government and demonstrate their visions of civil society and efficient government E-services.  I was really impressed by their fresh ideas and innovative thinking.

Another innovative event was the British Council’s FameLab show which is all about engaging young people with science. The finalists made excellent presentations on such diverse popular science themes such as artificial intellect, computer modelling of oceans, the chemistry of love, and chewing gum.

One of the most popular events every March is the Sofia Film Festival and the British Council once again presented an outstanding selection of British movies. The two highlights for me were watching “Slumdog Millionaire” at the British gala evening at the National Palace of Culture (together with 4,000 other people!) and seeing the Bulgarian audience line up for autographs from Michael Palin after a discussion with him.

British Council does a lot of work to help Bulgaria’s successful EU integration and one recent example of that was the adoption of the Law for Public Libraries. The bill was drafted by a working group representing all stakeholders involved but was also based on substantial input from British expertise and experience in the museum, library and archives field. This is the first time Bulgaria had legal provisions for its libraries.

You can find out more about the British Council’s activities in Bulgaria - including their extensive English language work – on their website.

Environmental policy

Our involvement in environmental and green initiatives continued. In March 2009, I became “Ambassador of the Campaign” of the first official Earth Hour campaign in Bulgaria, organised by the Wolrd Wildlife Fund (WWF). Earth Hour is a global initiative to encourage  state institutions, businesses and individual people to switch off their lights for one hour and thus show their support for actions against climate change. The initiative sent an important symbolic message  to world leaders in the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 that we need a global commitment to actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. During the Earth Hour a large number of landmarks in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities will have their outdoor lights switched off to show support for the campaign.

In April the British Embassy in Sofia received an award in the Ekonovator (Eco innovator) competition, organised by the daily financial newspaper Pari. The British Embassy won the award in the category Fight against Climate Change. It was recognized that, “although small in size as an organization, the British Embassy had made a significant contribution to the fight against climate change and had set a fine example”. We are very proud with this award, as it is recognition of our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment and to promote low carbon economy. I hope that many other organisations in Bulgaria, the United Kingdom and all over the world will join in those efforts.

Cleaning of the nature parks

A group of volunteers from the Embassy and their families, took part in the National Day of the Nature Parks on 23 May 2009 on Vitosha Nature Park near Sofia. The event, initiated and organized by WWF Bulgaria, invited volunteers in all 11 nature parks in Bulgaria.

400 volunteers from Sofia gathered in Dendrarium area on Vitosha around 10.00 am on 23 May and, divided in groups of 20-30 people, set for the areas, where cleaning and tourist infrastructure renovation was to be done. By lunchtime they collected more than 2 tonnes of litter, polished and mended wooden benches, bridges and signs, cleaned the three nearby museums of the bear, owl and dragonfly and installed signs at the alleys for disabled people.

The event attracted significant media attention and was covered by most major media in Bulgaria. According to data of WWF more than 2500 volunteers took part in the National Day of the Nature Parks in Bulgaria, collecting more than 15 tonnes of waste.

Pledge week

In order to celebrate the World Environment Day, 5 June, the Embassy held a pledge week in 1-5 June 2009. More than half of Embassy staff took part in the initiative. We made personal promises to do something different in order to lessen our negative impact on climate change and on the environment in general.   The idea was that by changing our actions for a week, they may become a habit of a lifetime. Most of their pledges concentrating on developing habits to save energy, water and decrease the amount of waste they generate by reusing and recycling. The most common pledges were to print double sided, not print e-mails and to walk to work. The pledges were displayed on a tree made of natural materials standing in the Embassy reception area.

I hope you have found this newsletter interesting. Please, do get in touch and share your thoughts and comments on information@british-embassy.bg

Steve Williams