US embassy cable - 05SOFIA1748

UNCLAS SOFIA 001748 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR L/LEI (JACOB COGAN) AND EUR/NCE (SCOTT BRANDON), 
DOJ/OIA (DEBORA CARUTH, ANDREA TISI). 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ASEC, CASC, KCRM, KJUS, BU 
SUBJECT: BULGARIA REQUESTS NEW EXTRADITION TREATY 
 
REF: (A) SOFIA 377, (B) 04 SOFIA 1196, (C) 04 SOFIA 958, (D) 
04 STATE 112230, (E) 04 STATE 75315, (F) 04 SOFIA 700 
 
1. (U) This is a guidance request; please see paragraph 6. 
 
2. (SBU) Post has received an official request from the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin negotiations on a 
revised extradition treaty.  Political and Consular officers 
raised the issue in consultations with MFA counterparts last 
week.  The written response, received 11 October, reads: 
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and especially Ministry of 
Justice formally reaffirm [their] long standing request to 
the USA Government to begin as soon as possible negotiations 
on an updated extradition treaty." 
 
3. (SBU) In our discussions with MFA last week, we also 
requested an indication of GoB's position on a possible 
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).  The written response 
did not address this, but a non-committal response was 
provided by email: "We believe that updating the legal basis 
between our states will affect positively the mutual legal 
cooperation and legal assistance in the field of criminal 
law between Bulgaria and the U.S."  In separate discussions 
last week, Deputy Interior Minister Boiko Kotsev, however, 
asserted that an MLAT would not satisfy the MoI's need for a 
formal protocol on sharing operational information.  He 
stated that, with or without an MLAT, a separate MoU would 
be required to address Bulgarian law. 
 
4. (SBU) FBI, Consular, RSO, and DoJ have all identified an 
updated extradition treaty as a high priority.  The current 
treaty, signed in 1924 and last updated in 1935, is valid 
only for a list of enumerated offenses which do not include 
narcotics, child abduction, or human trafficking.  In 
addition, the current treaty does not obligate Bulgaria to 
extradite its own nationals.  An updated treaty would allow 
the U.S. to take advantage of Bulgaria's February 2005 
constitutional amendment allowing extradition of Bulgarian 
nationals pursuant to international treaty. 
 
5. (SBU) COMMENT: GoB contacts at the Ministries of Foreign 
Affairs and Justice are aware of the significance of the 
upcoming meeting between Presidents Bush and Parvanov, and 
are willing to work with the USG on a possible announcement 
of negotiations in advance of this meeting.  The GoB seems 
less prepared to move forward immediately on an MLAT.  In 
addition, following Deputy Minister Kotsev's comments on the 
exchange of operational information, it appears that a 
specific agreement on that topic is being requested. END 
COMMENT 
 
6. (SBU) Post requests the Department's guidance regarding 
possible announcement of the intention to begin negotiations 
on a new extradition treaty in light of the upcoming 
presidential visit. 
 
 
BEYRLE