Israel and Bulgaria woo each other in wake of Turkey’s re-alignment

Bulgaria is expanding its military and economic ties with Israel in the light of a good relationship between the countries’ respective prime ministers and shifting geo-stategic alliances, according to an article in Israeli newspaper Haaretz by Barak Ravid.

“Since its relations with Turkey crumbled over the past year, Israel has begun looking to the Balkan states for new friends and allies. The new initiatives extend to shared intelligence, joint military exercises and boosting tourism,” writes Ravid.

Haaretz says that several countries  –  the article cites Cyprus, Romania. Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Macedonia  – are increasingly concerned about Turkey’s new radicalism.

Warmer relations between Sofia and Jerusalem first became apparent after talks between Netanyahu and Borissov in January, according to Haaretz.

The Israeli newspaper quotes Israel’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Noah Gal-Gendler, as saying that Borissov has concluded that it’s in Bulgaria’s interests to seek better relations with Israel. The ambassador apparently cites Borissov’s decision to visit Jerusalem, the first by a Bulgarian prime minister for 18 years, as proof of Sofia’s change in priorities.

Gal-Gendler is also quoted as saying that Bulgaria is interested in “looking for a new economic engine like Israeli high-tech and want to learn how we did it”.

A pivotal moment in Turkey’s re-alignment  –  away from its traditionally friendly ties with Israel in favour of solidarity with the Arab world  –  was the Israeli raid on the flotilla ship bound for Gaza. According to Haaretz, Borissov and Netanyahu had three conversations with each other over two weeks following the incident, concentrating on facilitating the release of two Bulgarian journalists who were aboard one of the ships.

“The Bulgarians are hoping that Israeli tourists who stopped visiting Turkey will come en masse to Bourgas and Varna on the Black Sea coast. Some 150,000 Israelis are expected to visit Bulgaria by the end of the year and Bulgaria wants to increase the number to 250 000 in 2011,” says Haaretz.

Bulgaria has also been mooted as a possible venue for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, although that, of course, would depend on both sides having faith in the impartiality of Sofia to broker negotiations.

The article goes on to say that Greece is also seeking closer ties with Israel. According to Ravid, Athens was “disappointed” not to receive any offers of assistance from Arab nations in the wake of the financial crisis earlier this year.

via Israel and Bulgaria woo each other in wake of Turkey’s re-alignment – Bulgaria – The Sofia Echo.