The Debate on European Security in Bulgaria

Abstract

The debate on European security in Bulgaria has certain determining features. Bulgaria is a socialist state, and its military doctrines are determined by membership of the Warsaw Pact; it is also a Balkan state, with its own Balkan policy of peaceful and neighbourly relations. It has, for example, signed a treaty of friendship with Greece, which is a NATO member. The past few years have witnessed a transformation in the security debate in Bulgaria; interest in non-military aspects of security has grown as interest in military security has waned. Research institutes and public bodies such as the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the University of Sofia, the Commit tee for European Security, and the Ecoforum for Peace have been developing and discussing new models for general and regional security. Their debates have centred on two groups of problems: 1. First, the search for non-military structures of security: economic, ecological and other forms of security are discussed. 2. Second, the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Balkans.