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Fri, Feb 10 2012
Ambassador of the American people
Photo: Tsvetelina Angelova
A May 2010 visit to a Bulgarian military base saw US ambassador James Warlick experience a flight in an F15.
Photo: Sofia Echo
US ambassador James Warlick is an advocate for US - Bulgarian co-operation to promote this country's rich cultural heritage, as evidenced by the recently-discovered Roman ruins in central Sofia.
Photo: Sofia Echo
"When I came here, I said that I was not just the ambassador the American government to the Bulgarian Government, I said that I was the ambassador of the American people to the Bulgarian people," James Warlick says.
"And I really do take that very seriously," he tells The Sofia Echo in an interview ahead of July 4, US Independence Day, his first since taking office as ambassador to Bulgaria. There is the expectation, Warlick says, that a US ambassador would concentrate solely on topics such as economic relations and security issues, matters that customarily have been at the top of Washington’s agenda abroad.
However, he believes that in addition to this, there is the "people-to-people" contact that it is vital to build.
Already, there are such contacts, through the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, American participation in charity work and in the International Women’s Club and through educational institutions, but a priority for Warlick is to build up such ties.
He is keen on the US Summer Work and Travel Programme, which every summer takes thousands of young Bulgarians to the US "not just as tourists" but as a group that gets an opportunity to experience the real America, not the mythologised version portrayed in films and television, to work side-by-side with Americans – enabling skills transfers for the participants in the programme.
In turn, Warlick says, he would like to see more Americans exposed to a new and more positive view of this region, South Eastern Europe, because for most of his compatriots its image has been blighted by the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
"We need to work on the kind of images that Americans have of this region," Warlick says. "I don’t expect Bulgaria to be in the forefront of Americans’ thinking about global issues, or even about Europe, but the more Americans we can expose (to a fairer picture of the country) the better".
He would like to see more students, tourists and business people coming to get better acquainted with Bulgaria.
Warlick says, with frankness, that when US business people start to think about investment opportunities, "Bulgaria probably doesn’t rise to the top of their list". This is not, he says, because it is not a good place to invest – on the contrary, he believes, those American business people who do encounter Bulgaria find that the country has a very well-educated workforce, labour costs are low, tax rates are low and the environment is very pro-Western and pro-American.
"I encourage businesses to look at Bulgaria as an opportunity for future investment," Warlick says.
He was speaking immediately after returning to a trip to the US for a meeting of the America For Bulgaria Foundation, of which he is a member of the board.
Warlick believes that the foundation, which has an endowment of $400 million, could be a "tremendous resource" through its programmes that open the way for further developing people-to-people contacts, for example through training entrepreneurs, working with civil society, supporting arts and culture – and notably, making available significant resources for heritage tourism. "Which," Warlick says, "means archeology, means ancient Thrace, the glories of the Roman Empire…all here, in the borders of Bulgaria".
The foundation is establishing financial support for an American research centre to focus on the cultural heritage of Thrace and Rome, opening the way for Bulgarian-American projects focusing on heritage tourism.
Elsewhere across the landscape of people-to-people contacts, Warlick is enthusiastic about a number of endeavours that he terms "flagships" for such relations. There is the American University in Bulgaria, headquartered in Blagoevgrad, which he describes as a "remarkable institution" and one that should not be seen solely as limited to Bulgaria.
"It’s a regional resource – talk about ‘people-to-people’, it’s not just about America and Bulgaria, it’s about Serbs and Kosovars studying in the same classroom, it’s about Albanians and Turkmen, Russians…quite extraordinary," he underlines.
Another flagship in the American College in Sofia, which he sees as the city’s best high school, and an institution that like AUBG, would not have been established without American assistance and which similarly continues to uphold excellence.
It is in such areas that he would like to see further people-to-people contacts develop.
"It’s easy to say, ‘we’ll have cultural co-operation,’ but what does that mean? How do we do that? So, for instance, we focusing more on Fulbright and what it can do; on bringing more American artists here; you may know we just had a visit from Elizabeth Kostova; she really speaks to the relationship in a very personal way, working through her foundation."
Warlick says that he has been speaking to the Minister of Culture, Vezhdi Rashidov, about arranging an American tour for some of Bulgaria’s Thracian gold, something that has not happened since the end of Bulgaria’s communist era. "Not easy to do, but I am hoping that it will happen during my time here," Warlick says.
At his residence, Warlick has been further developing his display of works by promising, cutting-edge young Bulgarian artists, a project that he sees as giving visitors to his home in Sofia a foretaste of the promise of the new generation among the creative community.
Trade, with energy
Questioned about trade relations and prospects for investment, Warlick says that there are US firms that see Bulgaria as a great investment opportunity for the region. These are companies in a variety of sectors, interested in long-term investments in Bulgaria.
However, generally they are cautious, not only because of the global economic environment, even though a recovery is beginning, but also cautious because they would like to see for themselves that the positive changes initiated in Bulgaria to improve the business environment will be sustained. These positive changes include moves towards improving incentives for investment, and clearing away bureaucratic obstacles, the latter a process that he acknowledges is not something that can be accomplished swiftly.
He mentions AES, already present for example with its wind farm project at Kavarna which is seen as a model of its kind, but also keen on solar energy, with the wish to construct one of the largest solar facilities in the world.
For America, a global energy leader, there is potential in investing in renewable sources of energy, an aim that in turn, would be of great benefit to Bulgaria, given the European Union’s ambitions about the share of renewable energy that EU states should be drawing on by 2020.
As to nuclear power, Warlick emphasises that Bulgarians themselves must decide what the country’s policy should be, in particular regarding projects such as Kozloduy and Belene.
Against this background, he says that the US is at the cutting edge of nuclear power generation technology, with companies such as Westinghouse and others; but again, he underlines, it is up to Bulgaria itself to decide what its nuclear power policy should be.
Biotechnology, he adds, has great potential in Bulgaria and it is quite likely that when tenders are put out, there will be interest among US firms.
"I believe that biotechnology will be the new information technology of the 21st century, and countries should position themselves for that, and I sincerely hope that it will be Bulgaria that emerges as a leader."
Warlick adds that while the IT market in Bulgaria may be small, the country has a workforce with considerable expertise in the field, and American companies may well want to tap into that.
He adds that he sees great potential in agriculture in Bulgaria, "not just winemaking – not long ago, it was Bulgaria that produced fruit and vegetables for the region; this is a country that has the potential ability to export significant amounts of wheat, of rapeseed; these are areas where Bulgaria can be very competitive".
Development in the agricultural sector, he adds, could also help to redress the population shift to major cities, through economic growth in rural areas.
Potential
Warlick has been meeting with representatives of firms in the IT sector and in pharmaceuticals, offering to go into bat for them with the authorities after the firms put forward what they would need to see to encourage them to further investment.
"There cannot be a single answer to that, because it is not an easy question; there won’t be a magic bullet."
However, the perspectives that he has asked them to put forward are to do with creating a more conducive environment for their sectors.
Some industries, Warlick notes, are easier to provide incentives for – an example being the film industry, even if Bulgaria is effectively in competition with a number of other countries in Central and South Eastern Europe.
At the same time, Warlick speaks with passionate conviction about the need for the Government to take as seriously the need to develop IT infrastructure as it has taken on board the need to improve transport infrastructure.
Steps forward such as e-government, such as spreading broadband access throughout the country would not only enhance Bulgaria’s competitiveness but also would spread development throughout the country because appropriate IT infrastructure would remove the need for a company to headquarter itself in Sofia. In turn, should a company locate itself in another town, this would have the dual benefit of reducing costs to that company, while spreading local economic benefits and again, perhaps reversing in part the migration to the major cities.
Security
On security issues, both in the context of the Nato military alliance and in co-operation in law enforcement, Warlick says that the bilateral relationship between Bulgaria and the US has never been stronger, underlining that this has been an ever-growing phenomenon with all of Bulgaria’s recent governments.
Warlick notes with appreciation Bulgaria’s decision to increase its military deployment in Afghanistan, notwithstanding the tight constraints on the Defence Ministry budget. Prime Minister Borissov, he recalls, has said that Bulgaria will continue to stand side by side with its allies in Afghanistan until the shared mission objectives are achieved.
In another area of shared interests, Warlick says that the US welcomes the stance taken by Bulgaria and its Foreign Minister, Nikolai Mladenov, to demonstrate that Bulgaria can be a responsible leader in the Balkans. Similarly, Warlick says that he appreciates the signal sent by Defence Minister Anyu Angelov about his commitment to see Bulgaria fully integrated into Nato.
"And I really do take that very seriously," he tells The Sofia Echo in an interview ahead of July 4, US Independence Day, his first since taking office as ambassador to Bulgaria. There is the expectation, Warlick says, that a US ambassador would concentrate solely on topics such as economic relations and security issues, matters that customarily have been at the top of Washington’s agenda abroad.
However, he believes that in addition to this, there is the "people-to-people" contact that it is vital to build.
Already, there are such contacts, through the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, American participation in charity work and in the International Women’s Club and through educational institutions, but a priority for Warlick is to build up such ties.
He is keen on the US Summer Work and Travel Programme, which every summer takes thousands of young Bulgarians to the US "not just as tourists" but as a group that gets an opportunity to experience the real America, not the mythologised version portrayed in films and television, to work side-by-side with Americans – enabling skills transfers for the participants in the programme.
In turn, Warlick says, he would like to see more Americans exposed to a new and more positive view of this region, South Eastern Europe, because for most of his compatriots its image has been blighted by the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
"We need to work on the kind of images that Americans have of this region," Warlick says. "I don’t expect Bulgaria to be in the forefront of Americans’ thinking about global issues, or even about Europe, but the more Americans we can expose (to a fairer picture of the country) the better".
He would like to see more students, tourists and business people coming to get better acquainted with Bulgaria.
Warlick says, with frankness, that when US business people start to think about investment opportunities, "Bulgaria probably doesn’t rise to the top of their list". This is not, he says, because it is not a good place to invest – on the contrary, he believes, those American business people who do encounter Bulgaria find that the country has a very well-educated workforce, labour costs are low, tax rates are low and the environment is very pro-Western and pro-American.
"I encourage businesses to look at Bulgaria as an opportunity for future investment," Warlick says.
He was speaking immediately after returning to a trip to the US for a meeting of the America For Bulgaria Foundation, of which he is a member of the board.
Warlick believes that the foundation, which has an endowment of $400 million, could be a "tremendous resource" through its programmes that open the way for further developing people-to-people contacts, for example through training entrepreneurs, working with civil society, supporting arts and culture – and notably, making available significant resources for heritage tourism. "Which," Warlick says, "means archeology, means ancient Thrace, the glories of the Roman Empire…all here, in the borders of Bulgaria".
The foundation is establishing financial support for an American research centre to focus on the cultural heritage of Thrace and Rome, opening the way for Bulgarian-American projects focusing on heritage tourism.
Elsewhere across the landscape of people-to-people contacts, Warlick is enthusiastic about a number of endeavours that he terms "flagships" for such relations. There is the American University in Bulgaria, headquartered in Blagoevgrad, which he describes as a "remarkable institution" and one that should not be seen solely as limited to Bulgaria.
"It’s a regional resource – talk about ‘people-to-people’, it’s not just about America and Bulgaria, it’s about Serbs and Kosovars studying in the same classroom, it’s about Albanians and Turkmen, Russians…quite extraordinary," he underlines.
Another flagship in the American College in Sofia, which he sees as the city’s best high school, and an institution that like AUBG, would not have been established without American assistance and which similarly continues to uphold excellence.
It is in such areas that he would like to see further people-to-people contacts develop.
"It’s easy to say, ‘we’ll have cultural co-operation,’ but what does that mean? How do we do that? So, for instance, we focusing more on Fulbright and what it can do; on bringing more American artists here; you may know we just had a visit from Elizabeth Kostova; she really speaks to the relationship in a very personal way, working through her foundation."
Warlick says that he has been speaking to the Minister of Culture, Vezhdi Rashidov, about arranging an American tour for some of Bulgaria’s Thracian gold, something that has not happened since the end of Bulgaria’s communist era. "Not easy to do, but I am hoping that it will happen during my time here," Warlick says.
At his residence, Warlick has been further developing his display of works by promising, cutting-edge young Bulgarian artists, a project that he sees as giving visitors to his home in Sofia a foretaste of the promise of the new generation among the creative community.
Trade, with energy
Questioned about trade relations and prospects for investment, Warlick says that there are US firms that see Bulgaria as a great investment opportunity for the region. These are companies in a variety of sectors, interested in long-term investments in Bulgaria.
However, generally they are cautious, not only because of the global economic environment, even though a recovery is beginning, but also cautious because they would like to see for themselves that the positive changes initiated in Bulgaria to improve the business environment will be sustained. These positive changes include moves towards improving incentives for investment, and clearing away bureaucratic obstacles, the latter a process that he acknowledges is not something that can be accomplished swiftly.
He mentions AES, already present for example with its wind farm project at Kavarna which is seen as a model of its kind, but also keen on solar energy, with the wish to construct one of the largest solar facilities in the world.
For America, a global energy leader, there is potential in investing in renewable sources of energy, an aim that in turn, would be of great benefit to Bulgaria, given the European Union’s ambitions about the share of renewable energy that EU states should be drawing on by 2020.
As to nuclear power, Warlick emphasises that Bulgarians themselves must decide what the country’s policy should be, in particular regarding projects such as Kozloduy and Belene.
Against this background, he says that the US is at the cutting edge of nuclear power generation technology, with companies such as Westinghouse and others; but again, he underlines, it is up to Bulgaria itself to decide what its nuclear power policy should be.
Biotechnology, he adds, has great potential in Bulgaria and it is quite likely that when tenders are put out, there will be interest among US firms.
"I believe that biotechnology will be the new information technology of the 21st century, and countries should position themselves for that, and I sincerely hope that it will be Bulgaria that emerges as a leader."
Warlick adds that while the IT market in Bulgaria may be small, the country has a workforce with considerable expertise in the field, and American companies may well want to tap into that.
He adds that he sees great potential in agriculture in Bulgaria, "not just winemaking – not long ago, it was Bulgaria that produced fruit and vegetables for the region; this is a country that has the potential ability to export significant amounts of wheat, of rapeseed; these are areas where Bulgaria can be very competitive".
Development in the agricultural sector, he adds, could also help to redress the population shift to major cities, through economic growth in rural areas.
Potential
Warlick has been meeting with representatives of firms in the IT sector and in pharmaceuticals, offering to go into bat for them with the authorities after the firms put forward what they would need to see to encourage them to further investment.
"There cannot be a single answer to that, because it is not an easy question; there won’t be a magic bullet."
However, the perspectives that he has asked them to put forward are to do with creating a more conducive environment for their sectors.
Some industries, Warlick notes, are easier to provide incentives for – an example being the film industry, even if Bulgaria is effectively in competition with a number of other countries in Central and South Eastern Europe.
At the same time, Warlick speaks with passionate conviction about the need for the Government to take as seriously the need to develop IT infrastructure as it has taken on board the need to improve transport infrastructure.
Steps forward such as e-government, such as spreading broadband access throughout the country would not only enhance Bulgaria’s competitiveness but also would spread development throughout the country because appropriate IT infrastructure would remove the need for a company to headquarter itself in Sofia. In turn, should a company locate itself in another town, this would have the dual benefit of reducing costs to that company, while spreading local economic benefits and again, perhaps reversing in part the migration to the major cities.
Security
On security issues, both in the context of the Nato military alliance and in co-operation in law enforcement, Warlick says that the bilateral relationship between Bulgaria and the US has never been stronger, underlining that this has been an ever-growing phenomenon with all of Bulgaria’s recent governments.
Warlick notes with appreciation Bulgaria’s decision to increase its military deployment in Afghanistan, notwithstanding the tight constraints on the Defence Ministry budget. Prime Minister Borissov, he recalls, has said that Bulgaria will continue to stand side by side with its allies in Afghanistan until the shared mission objectives are achieved.
In another area of shared interests, Warlick says that the US welcomes the stance taken by Bulgaria and its Foreign Minister, Nikolai Mladenov, to demonstrate that Bulgaria can be a responsible leader in the Balkans. Similarly, Warlick says that he appreciates the signal sent by Defence Minister Anyu Angelov about his commitment to see Bulgaria fully integrated into Nato.
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The Sofia Echo
Mr. Warlick,
If you are "an Ambasador of the American people to the Bulgarian people" as you say, perhaps, you may wish to tell me why I write you to sofia@usembassy.bg and I am ignored?
I am a victim of the Bulgarian legal system and I need help.
Please have someone read my emails and ask someone competent to respond.
Thank you.
Except that the Federal Government is suing Arizona for immigration laws enforcement, which is apparently illegal in the US..
No one know how the US will end up. Getting aggressive with Russia is a good beginning of the end, if history is a teacher...
I wonder if it isn't because we already had to really go through a civil war here to sort of settle states' rights in relation to the Federal government that we don't see states conducting foreign relations (which is also pretty clear in our Constitution). Although, in London, you can still see the Texas Embassy (when it was briefly its own country), which is a Mexican restaurant (or at least when I was there years ago). When I look at the EU today I sometimes wonder if that wasn't how it was when the U.S. was incorporating states into the [...]
Read the full comment Union, with major differences in states, etc, all under one government and the problems that come along with it.
Interestingly, in the U.S., there aare a few really big issues that are going to really test states' rights. At least, I haven't seen that in a long time.
Warlick got really pissed at Boyko today, "to clarify BG's new agreements with Russia"...
He was really mad... not very diplomatic too... I think Warlick really sees himself as a Governor of BG...
Can't speak for all but I think not...
Most Bulgarians don't appreciate the over all maturity of the populace, but the majority have been pretty wise in not letting demagogues pull our chain ala Serbia style..
We've had Currency board, Crown Agents at the borders, we are basically reaching out for help against our own bad habits, and if that means loss of sovereignty, be it - that's that being in the EU means, doesn't it?
The bigger EU countries have opened their borders to us - not without political [...]
Read the full comment price at home mind you - they have incorporate us at a huge cost - not the same as with the US to which we can't even travel freely.
You tell me - do you see "States Rights" folks in the US as ever pushing for independent from the US military alliances with foreign countries, for their individual state?
The degree of Federalism might be debatable, yet the debate stops at the border... It should be the same with the EU - the US is not one of us and it does not belong in the EU andy more than BG is a US state...
Obviously even our citizen are not allowed freely, so I am afraid sovereignty is only used by the US to divide and discriminate...
Do you think that people worry about a loss of BG sovereignty to the stronger EU countries? I guess this is something that would have been discussed prior to BG joining the EU, but I have to imagine that BG would not always be ok with whatever the EU decides. Is BG really comfortable with such major decisions going through the EU? Just my thoughts.
Yeah, I don't think that the issue is this. In fact the EU has been pushing for the US to treat all of its members equally, but despite all the "New Europe" patronizing talk, we are still second class as far as the US cares...
The ambassadors you are right, although they EU ones are closing down, one by one.
Personally I'd like to see them all shut down and will like to see unified EU foreigh policies.
A consul would be enough for a small country like BG, to deal with [...]
Read the full comment citizen issues, and of course business organizations from various states and countries.
Hey wait, I thought I read somewhere that the reason BG still has a visa regime for the US was because BG is still not in the Schengen area. Not sure if this is the case, can't always believe everything you read. :)
It's also my understanding that there are many countries here in BG with diplomatic representation, even other EU members.
*
Regardless the US needs to treat BG much more with in the rules and context of the EU and (NOT TO) to forge these bilateral set ups.
OK he mentioned the EU only ones in relation to renewable energy - missed that.
Regardless the US needs to treat BG much more with in the rules and context of the EU and to forge these bilateral set ups.
It's classic "divide and conquer" Roman strategy of empire building. It's obvious that the US aims at replacing Russia as the ruler of the region and is doing it country by country. BG, Georgia, now Azerbaijan Armenia and so on, making their way to the energy rich areas...
I see "Central and South Eastern Europe, NATO US Bulgaria" mentioned many times, and not ONE time did he mentioned the EU, as if it doesn't exist!!!
We are part of the EU Mr. Warlick!
Your relationship with us, is a relationship with an EU country - have some basic respect for that! Get your missiles out of BG and the CIA center while you are at it, drop the visas, and then tell us how much you love us... we'll fight your wars if we have to (that's all the US [...]
Read the full comment seems to be interested in when not ruining the world's economy with mindless lawless speculation), after the EU agrees to it, but we need you to treat us like the EUROPEAN UNION country that we are!
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained off-topic content
Such a long article ant mentioning the cornerstone of US-BG relations?!
Who are you kidding?
Without visa - free travel system US and BG cannot have advanced integration on social, cultural and economical level.
And it seems US does not want to implement it.
Unfortunately Mr. Ambassador, more and more of us feel you are not only the ambassador of US to BG, but also the reverse. Especially with the commi Poptodorova in Washington.
It is imperative that you understand and convey our need to be able to travel freely [...]
Read the full comment from here to the US and from the US to BG. This is underlying all subsequent talks about culture law and so on. We need integration so that people can evidence for themselves a role model they an use for their own country. We need equal treatment, we need more freedom and better security. This is one thing we can do together, better that each one separately.