The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria. And I never knew Bulgaria was on the Atlantic lol. The usual rogues gallery appears below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Club_of_Bulgaria
Atlantic Club of Bulgaria
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Club's logo
The
Atlantic Club of Bulgaria is a non-governmental, non-partisan organization dedicated to fostering the common values of the
Euro-Atlantic community.
Mission
Originally formed in
1990 around the pro-
NATO lobby in the first post-
Cold War Bulgarian Parliament, and officially established on
4 April 1991, the Atlantic Club has grown to include members from all walks of life: government, academia, military, business and media. The Club works to promote Bulgaria’s integration with and role in the
Atlantic Alliance, and all Euro-Atlantic political, security, economic and other structures. Within Bulgaria, the Atlantic Club serves the broader purpose of supporting democracy, human rights, free market economy and rule of law.
Public lectures
The Club’s activities focus primarily on raising public awareness about security and international affairs. The list of distinguished guest speakers includes the
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates
Lech Walesa,
Shimon Peres,
Mikhail Gorbachev and the
XIV Dalai Lama of
Tibet. A number of heads of states and governments have addressed the Club, such as
Tony Blair,
Romano Prodi,
Mesut Yilmaz,
Bülent Ecevit,
José María Aznar,
Lyubcho Georgievski,
Mikulas Dzurinda,
Mircea Snegur,
Mário Soares,
Ion Iliescu,
Adrian Năstase,
Stjepan Mesić,
Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
Vladimír Špidla,
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga,
Alfred Moisiu,
Fatos Nano,
Pascal Couchepin, and
Bulgaria’s
Georgi Parvanov,
Petar Stoyanov,
Zhelyu Zhelev,
Sergey Stanishev,
Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha,
Ivan Kostov and
Zhan Videnov, Secretaries General of
WEU Wim van Eekelen and
Jose Cutileiro, as well as
Council of Europe Secretaries General
Daniel Tarschys and
Walter Schwimmer, President of
European Parliament Pat Cox and other prominent
EU leaders.
NATO Secretaries General Dr.
Manfred Wörner, Dr.
Javier Solana, Lord
George Robertson and
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, a number of NATO
Supreme Allied Commanders Europe (SACEURs), and foreign and defense ministers and high ranking military commanders from various countries have also spoke before the Club.
The Atlantic Club initiated a national committee that organized the visit of
Pope John Paul II to Bulgaria in 2002, and also co-hosted the mass rally for U.S. President
Bill Clinton who visited
Sofia in 1999, and another one for US Secretary of State
Colin Powell in 2003.
Research and policy promotion
In its
think-tank capacity the Atlantic Club sponsors round tables, seminars and conferences on a wide variety of topics, and is a leading partner in the Security Sector Reform Coalition formed by Bulgarian
NGOs to develop strategic reports on key policy issues in the field of foreign and security policy, and defense reform and modernization.
In
1998 the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria was awarded the annual Manfred Wörner Fellowship by
NATO to develop a strategic study entitled NATO’s Global Mission in the 21st Century.
The Club has contributed greatly to initiating and carrying out the public debate, opinion making and policy advocacy in times of crises, starting with ensuring of Bulgarian support for the Allied liberation of
Kuwait in
1991, through the wars and post-war reconstruction in
Bosnia,
Kosovo,
Afghanistan and
Iraq.
Outreach
The Atlantic Club was the first Atlantic NGO outside NATO — founded on
Warsaw Pact territory actually — and the first non-NATO member (since
1992) of the
Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA), and has assisted in the establishment of Atlantic associations in other countries of
Central and Eastern Europe, most recently in
Afghanistan,
Iraq, and other
Asian,
African and
South American countries. In particular, the Club holds an annual Bulgarian-Afghanistan NATO Week, and a Bulgarian-Iraqi NATO Week, organized jointly with the Afghanistan Council for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation and the Atlantic Club of Iraq respectively.
Other activities
The Atlantic Club is active in other fields like sustainable development, aerospace and Antarctic research, as well as market economy studies, respectively as a co-founder of the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute and the Economic Policy Institute,
Sofia.
The Club raised the funds, and jointly with the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute organized the resumption of Bulgaria’s Antarctic activities in
1993, the upgrading of the Bulgarian refuge on
Livingston Island and its redesignation as
St. Kliment Ohridski Base, as well as the construction of a new main building of the base started during the
1995/
96 season.
Structure
An important part of the Club’s network is its International Board of Directors comprising prominent individuals from
Bulgaria,
Europe and
North America working for Atlanticism or humanism in general. The organization has regional chapters in
Burgas,
Dospat and
Sarnitsa,
Gabrovo,
Haskovo,
Plovdiv,
Ruse,
Varna and
Yambol, and is associated with the NATO Information Center in
Sofia, the Bulgarian Euro-Atlantic Youth Club, and the
Manfred Wörner Foundation.
The Founding President (
1991-
2001) and Honorary President of the Club (since
2001) is Dr.
Solomon Passy. The present Chairman and CEO of the Atlantic Club is Dr.
Lyubomir Ivanov.
Honours
The Atlantic Club bestows its Golden Award for outstanding personal contribution to promoting Atlantic values, solidarity and cooperation.
The Club has sponsored the naming of Manfred Wörner Street, Atlantic Square, Atlantic Alliance Plaza, Atlantic Hall, NATO Park-Plaza, Atlantic Optical Plant, and Atlantic Solidarity Square by the relevant authorities of
Sofia,
Haskovo,
Sandanski,
Plovdiv,
Dospat,
Panagyurishte and
Varna respectively.
In recognition of the organization’s contribution to fostering Atlantic values, the
President of Bulgaria has named a geographical feature in
Antarctica for the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, namely the
Atlantic Club Ridge on
Livingston Island.
Publications
Bezmer Guide
- S. Popov et al., NATO's Global Mission in the 21st Century, Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, Sofia, 2000
- J. Bugajski and B. Tashev eds., Early warning and policy perspectives in the Trans-Atlantic security agenda: Central and East European point of view, NI Plus Publishing House, Sofia, 2005, ISBN 954-90437-7-0
- L. Ivanov and P. Pantev eds., The Joint Bulgarian-American Military Facilities: Public opinion and strategic, political, economic, and environmental aspects, NI Plus Publishing House, Sofia, 2006 (in Bulgarian)
- L. Ivanov ed., Bulgaria: Bezmer and adjacent regions — Guide for American military, Multiprint Ltd., Sofia, 2007, ISBN 978-954-90437-8-5
See also
References