Sofia Echo file photo
The world was shocked after the September 11
terrorist attacks. People laid flowers in front
of the U.S. Embassy in Sofia in memory of the
victims.
The American Embassy in Sofia reopened for business less than 24 hours after the series of devastating terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11. The embassy increased its own security measures and asked Bulgarian authorities to provide additional protection for its facilities. American citizens in the country were urged to exercise extra security consciousness. Security was increased at all U.S. institutions operating in Bulgaria, including the offices of USAID, the U.S. Peace Corps, the American University in Blagoevgrad and the American College in Sofia.
After the attacks, U.S. officials got a flood of faxes and e-mails from many Bulgarians with condolences and offers to donate blood.
Bulgaria was ready to provide every possible resource to support any response to the perpetrators of the terror attacks on the U.S., in the implementation of a general agreement the country maintains with NATO, Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said shortly after the attacks.
The National Assembly had ratified an agreement between Bulgaria and NATO on transit passage of NATO armed forces and personnel on April 6, 2001.
The Bulgarian government declared September 14 a day of mourning, thus joining the September 12 declaration of the Council of the European Union, which asked Europeans to observe three minutes of silence on September 14, a day of mourning throughout Europe.
Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden - the main suspect in the terrorist attacks - was interested in the Kozlodui nuclear power plant’s waste, said Bulgarian Ivan Ivanov in an interview with Darik radio on September 16. Ivanov (speaking under an alias) claimed he met bin Laden while working for one of his companies. Bin Laden was interested in acquiring uranium 235, which is contained in nuclear waste, and can only be used for making nuclear bombs, Ivanov said, explaining he was not an expert in this field but was repeating what experts have told him.
Kozlodui power plant management denied having held talks with bin Laden.
Bulgaria agreed on September 25 to a U.S. request to open its airspace to aid Washington’s plans to strike back following the attacks. The number of planes, their destination, and the date of passage were not specified in the U.S. request, Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said. He described the decision of the council as a natural progression of the country’s foreign policy. “The U.S. operation is planned under utmost secrecy.”
Following the U.S. scare after cases of anthrax were found throughout the country, the hysteria arrived in Bulgaria. All checks of unidentified powdery substances found in the country tested negative.
Investigations into the hoaxes revealed that people were using the worldwide anthrax scare to play jokes on others. As a result, the Interior Ministry circulated a warning that the Penal Code envisages two years imprisonment, corrective labour or internal exile for offenders.
NATO transport planes started flying over Bulgaria’s territory on October 9. They were moved to bases closer to Afghanistan. U.S. military forces began using an airbase near Bourgas on the Black Sea coast on November 23 with little ceremony and no opposition.
Three Bulgarian reporters were detained in the Afghani village of Ostana in late October. Georgi Milkov from 24 Chassa, Stoyan Vitanov from Dnevnik, and Emilian Dinov from Bulgarian National Television were kept in a house with armed guards for their own protection for about three days.
The three journalists were covering the conflict in Afghanistan when local authorities located and transported them by government helicopter to Talokan, the main city in the government-controlled territories. They returned home on October 26.
After the attacks, U.S. officials got a flood of faxes and e-mails from many Bulgarians with condolences and offers to donate blood.
Bulgaria was ready to provide every possible resource to support any response to the perpetrators of the terror attacks on the U.S., in the implementation of a general agreement the country maintains with NATO, Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said shortly after the attacks.
The National Assembly had ratified an agreement between Bulgaria and NATO on transit passage of NATO armed forces and personnel on April 6, 2001.
The Bulgarian government declared September 14 a day of mourning, thus joining the September 12 declaration of the Council of the European Union, which asked Europeans to observe three minutes of silence on September 14, a day of mourning throughout Europe.
Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden - the main suspect in the terrorist attacks - was interested in the Kozlodui nuclear power plant’s waste, said Bulgarian Ivan Ivanov in an interview with Darik radio on September 16. Ivanov (speaking under an alias) claimed he met bin Laden while working for one of his companies. Bin Laden was interested in acquiring uranium 235, which is contained in nuclear waste, and can only be used for making nuclear bombs, Ivanov said, explaining he was not an expert in this field but was repeating what experts have told him.
Kozlodui power plant management denied having held talks with bin Laden.
Bulgaria agreed on September 25 to a U.S. request to open its airspace to aid Washington’s plans to strike back following the attacks. The number of planes, their destination, and the date of passage were not specified in the U.S. request, Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said. He described the decision of the council as a natural progression of the country’s foreign policy. “The U.S. operation is planned under utmost secrecy.”
Following the U.S. scare after cases of anthrax were found throughout the country, the hysteria arrived in Bulgaria. All checks of unidentified powdery substances found in the country tested negative.
Investigations into the hoaxes revealed that people were using the worldwide anthrax scare to play jokes on others. As a result, the Interior Ministry circulated a warning that the Penal Code envisages two years imprisonment, corrective labour or internal exile for offenders.
NATO transport planes started flying over Bulgaria’s territory on October 9. They were moved to bases closer to Afghanistan. U.S. military forces began using an airbase near Bourgas on the Black Sea coast on November 23 with little ceremony and no opposition.
Three Bulgarian reporters were detained in the Afghani village of Ostana in late October. Georgi Milkov from 24 Chassa, Stoyan Vitanov from Dnevnik, and Emilian Dinov from Bulgarian National Television were kept in a house with armed guards for their own protection for about three days.
The three journalists were covering the conflict in Afghanistan when local authorities located and transported them by government helicopter to Talokan, the main city in the government-controlled territories. They returned home on October 26.
