site.btaSpanish Ambassador Tapia: "New Government's First Steps Send Positive Signal"

Spanish Ambassador Tapia: "New Government's First Steps Send Positive Signal"


Sofia, February 6 (Lora Metanova of BTA) - "The new Government's
 first steps are sending a positive signal, which not only helps
 regain citizens' trust but also restore credibility with the EU
 institutions," Spain's Ambassador to Bulgaria, Jose Luis Tapia
Vicente, said in a BTA interview.

"Bulgaria needs to return to a continuous period of stability.
More than ever before, political stability is an essential
condition to respond to the needs and the inevitable challenges
facing the country. That is why the various political forces,
including the entities which are not in the government, should
assume their share of responsibility and commitment and should
work in concert for the common good of this country," the
diplomat pointed out.

He says that the October 5, 2014 elections were called upon to
put an end to a period of unease in Bulgaria's political and
public life, which was particularly conspicuous during the last
three years.

"The formation of a coalition cabinet by Prime Minister Boyko
Borissov within a rather intricate context is worthy of
acknowledgment and a positive interpretation, both from
Bulgaria's national perspective itself and from the point of
view of its EU partners," Ambassador Tapia observed.

Among the numerous challenges facing Bulgaria, he listed the
judicial reform, the taking of long-term and sustainable
decisions regarding the energy sector, and developing an
investment programme for the realistic management of EU funds.

"As Ambassador of Spain to Bulgaria, I can't help stressing the
urgent need of legal certainty in Bulgaria that would enable
foreign investors, companies and operators to establish
themselves in Bulgaria, relying on full guarantees," the
diplomat pointed out. He added that the climate of instability
and legal uncertainty in Bulgaria has had a strongly dissuasive
effect on foreign investors.

"The report on Bulgaria, which the European Commission released
by virtue of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism,
analyzes these problems in depth. Regrettably, the remarks in
the report correspond to reality in a number of aspects," Tapia
pointed out. "The malfunctioning and non-transparency that are
evident in part of the judicial system must be remedied
resolutely," he argued.

The Ambassador sees the adoption of the Judicial Reform Strategy
 in January as "undoubtedly a large step forward of the new
Government." "As the EU report also emphasizes, the action plan
proposed by the Prosecutor General for the decentralization of
the prosecution and for providing additional guarantees of non-
interference in the work of prosecutors is praiseworthy, too."

The Ambassador recalls that some of these proposals for an
improvement of the performance of the prosecution service were
formulated after Bulgaria's Prosecutor General paid a working
visit to Spain last year at the invitation of his Spanish
counterpart. Then part of the elements of the organizational
system of the Spanish prosecution service were adopted as a
model that can be applied in Bulgaria. "This is part of the
close cooperation between Bulgaria and Spain in a number of
sectors," Tapia pointed out.

The Ambassador stresses that bilateral economic contacts and
their promotion are steadily prioritized in his work. At the end
 of the second quarter of 2014, the stock of Spanish investments
 in Bulgaria reached 1,018.4 million euro. "By the end of 2013,
Spain had invested 967.7 million euro in Bulgaria, which ranks
my country 13th in terms of the amount of funds invested," he
said.

In terms of the amount of the investment flow, Spain ranks ninth
 among the home countries of foreign investments in Bulgaria.

The principal investment destinations so far have been real
estate, construction and renewable energy sources. Both sectors
have suffered downturns in recent years: construction and real
estate were hit by the burst of the real estate bubble, and the
regulatory changes in Bulgaria frustrated the energy sector.
"Investments in real estate are expected to recover in part, but
 the overall perception of legal uncertainty made Bulgaria a
rather unattractive market for foreign companies," Tapia said.

He also commented on the important community of Bulgarians
resident in Spain, saying that the Bulgarian community is
largely integrated in Spanish society. "During the worst period
of the labour market crisis, Spaniards did not perceive the
Bulgarian citizens as a threat. They don't regard them that way
at present, either, when Spain is back on the road of growth and
 has regained full  international credit of confidence," he
said.

The Ambassador noted the growing interest in the Spanish
language and culture not only in the Bulgarian educational
system but among Bulgarians in general, who study Spanish as a
foreign language. Spanish is the second most widely spoken
language in the world, with over 500 million Spanish-speaking
people."Bulgarians, and especially the young generation, realize
 the enormous potential of being able to speak Spanish," he
said.

Regarding tourism, the diplomat sees Bulgaria as a country "that
 must be discovered and visited" and as having "a clear
potential for development". "In Bulgaria, Spanish tourists are
attracted mainly by cultural and urban tourism. Spanish tourists
 will gradually develop a demand for rural and sports tourism,"
Jose Luis Tapia predicted. In 2014, for a second consecutive
year, Spain received a record number of 64,995,275 inbound
tourists, an increase of 7.1 per cent. "As a leader in tourism,
Spain is ready to cooperate with Bulgarian institutions and
together improve the potential of our exchanges in this sector,"
 the Ambassador pointed out.  

"The 35th edition of the International Tourism Trade Fair FITUR
in Madrid is an excellent venue for tour operators of various
countries, including Bulgaria. Not accidentally, the 2015 fair
that recently ended drew to Madrid 9,107 firms from 165
countries and some 200,000 foreign visitors. Bulgaria, too,
attended this significant international tourism industry event
in Spain," the Ambassador aid. "Bulgaria's Tourism Minister, Mrs
 Angelkova, also took part in the first Spain Global Tourism
Forum (GTF) within the framework of FITUR, at which economic and
 global issues with a bearing on tourism development in the
present conditions were analyzed."

Ambassador Tapia has a special sentiment for the fate of five
Bulgarian nurses, who were sentenced to death in Libya on
trumped-up charges of deliberately infecting several hundred
children with AIDS. As Spain's Ambassador to Libya during the
Bulgarian medics' court trial in 2000-2004, he drew up the first
 common position of the EU Member States' ambassadors on the
case. He recently organized a meeting with the Bulgarian nurses.

In his words, he did "what had to be done." "In 2000 I witnessed
 the suffering of the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian
doctor in Libya. In the course of four years we all joined
forces so as to enlist the world for their cause. I assumed a
commitment at that time, and it is not something that disappears
 with time."