THE US Senate ratified the NATO Accession Protocol of Bulgaria and six more countries that had been invited to become members of NATO at a meeting in Prague last November. All 96 senators present voted unanimously in favour. "Every ratification by a member country of the Alliance is important, but today's event was one of the biggest challenges for us," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said afterwards.
Bulgaria's NATO Accession Protocols had already been ratified by the parliaments of Canada and Norway. Bulgaria awaits the ratifications of 16 more state national assemblies. According to Passi, the US Senate ratification was the biggest and the most serious barrier between Bulgaria and NATO, because the Senate, unlike in Europe, is very independent from the executive power.
"After 13 years of bad sleep now we can at last have some rest", Passi said. After the ratification he went to the US State Department to attend a lunch given by State Secretary Colin Powell in honour of the foreign ministers of the seven countries which are to become part of NATO - Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
US President George Bush delivered a greeting speech from the Rose Garden in the White House two hours after the senators gave their support for the seven invitees. He appealed to NATO member states to ratify the candidates' accession protocols as soon as possible.
"We're proud you're our ally," Bush told Passi during a meeting in Washington DC later the same evening. Bush had separate talks with each of the seven countries' delegations.
Passi also met US Senator John McCain who shared his opinion that Bulgaria was a perfect place for NATO and US military bases.
A day later it became clear that the ratification would be endorsed by the German Bundesrat at the beginning of July. This emerged from the talks between Plamen Panayotov, National Movement Simeon II Floor Leader and Chairman of the National Assembly Group for Friendship with Germany, and Stanimir Ilchev, Chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Policy Committee, which they had in Germany.
Bulgaria's NATO Accession Protocols had already been ratified by the parliaments of Canada and Norway. Bulgaria awaits the ratifications of 16 more state national assemblies. According to Passi, the US Senate ratification was the biggest and the most serious barrier between Bulgaria and NATO, because the Senate, unlike in Europe, is very independent from the executive power.
"After 13 years of bad sleep now we can at last have some rest", Passi said. After the ratification he went to the US State Department to attend a lunch given by State Secretary Colin Powell in honour of the foreign ministers of the seven countries which are to become part of NATO - Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
US President George Bush delivered a greeting speech from the Rose Garden in the White House two hours after the senators gave their support for the seven invitees. He appealed to NATO member states to ratify the candidates' accession protocols as soon as possible.
"We're proud you're our ally," Bush told Passi during a meeting in Washington DC later the same evening. Bush had separate talks with each of the seven countries' delegations.
Passi also met US Senator John McCain who shared his opinion that Bulgaria was a perfect place for NATO and US military bases.
A day later it became clear that the ratification would be endorsed by the German Bundesrat at the beginning of July. This emerged from the talks between Plamen Panayotov, National Movement Simeon II Floor Leader and Chairman of the National Assembly Group for Friendship with Germany, and Stanimir Ilchev, Chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Policy Committee, which they had in Germany.
