The Kosovo before independence

Ivo Indjev criticises Bulgaria's failure to adopt an official position on Kosovo: "The EU supports Kosovo's independence and thus as an EU member Bulgaria is by implication on [Kosovo's] side. But tacitly ... the government is trying to sell its 'sitting on the fence' to the public as flexibility. In reality it is afraid of getting its face slapped - not by its own citizens but by the mighty hand of the Kremlin. ... We should not kid ourselves that we are neutral. When Bulgaria opposed nationalist tendencies in the Balkans and in 1992 became the first country to recognise the state of Macedonia, it became visible on the geo-political map. Foreign policy is, however, a projection of the mood at home. Seen in those terms one can say that in 1992 and in 1999 [when Bulgaria adopted a pro-NATO position in the conflict with Serbia] Bulgaria acted like an independent country - whereas now it is behaving like 'Russia's unfaithful wife'."

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