Visa Waiver for Bulgaria Is Good for U.S. Security?

Bulgaria, which was one of the most repressive communist police states during the Soviet era, has not shaken its totalitarian past, regardless of its claims of reform. Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov proudly parades his KGB pedigree on his official website. Many of his appointees, likewise, are publicly documented “former” members of the communist security services. Both Stanishev and Parvanov were members of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) and are now members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which is simply the BCP renamed. Notorious for corruption and its ties to the ultra-violent Bulgarian Mafia, the Parvanov-Stanishev government is also strongly implicated in the illegal arms and narcotics trafficking cartels that are providing revenue and weapons to international terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and al-Qaeda.

Bulgaria, which currently is being integrated into the European Union and NATO, may soon be a privileged conduit for criminals, spies, and terrorists into the United States, if the visa waiver status is allowed to go through.