Lyubomir Ivanov

“ Special thanks go to Boris Bekyarov and Robert Rowlands whose financial support has helped make this project possible.
I wish to express my thanks to Nusha for her company, despite the fact that she skipped my Stanley lecture, like she had skipped her Deception Island and Hannah Point landings in Antarctica before. I trust she enjoyed our time in the Falklands, judging from her enquiries about possible future trips down south. ”

“ Who is entitled to self-determination and who is not? In each particular case, for self-determination to take place there should be a community of people considering themselves a distinct nation/people in the first place, then they must claim their right to self-determination and the opportunity to choose a self-determination option of their preference, and last but not least, that claim needs to be recognized by the respective central government. ”

“ Bulgaria’s nature, not excluding conservation areas, is subject to systematic onslaught on behalf of narrow-minded interests. What is needed now is not just to oppose such practices, but to fight also for elimination of their consequences accumulated during the last few decades, in order to undermine the fait accompli tactics. ”

“ Names of persons who have made outstanding discoveries in Antarctica or, through their work with Antarctic expeditions, have made outstanding contributions to scientific knowledge or to the techniques of Antarctic exploration ”

“ Any recognition of the Falklands self-determination by third parties like the UN is desirable but not crucial at all. While such recognition will come inevitably in the context of more global political developments expanding the practice of self-determination worldwide, it is nevertheless worth keeping the pressure on the UN Decolonization Committee for recognition and abandonment of its double standards. ”

“ The inhabited Overseas Territories, along with England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man constitute the family of British nations.
European South Atlantic/American Territories
Apart from the numerous British islands, European territories in the region of South Atlantic and South America are also the Norwegian Antarctic island of Bouvetøya (Bouvet Island) , and the French overseas department of French Guiana (home to the European Spaceport in Kourou) on the South American mainland. ”

“ Of the people to whom I am grateful, Robert naturally comes first. I extend cordial thanks to him and to all the Islanders I met during my stay in the Falklands, for their friendly hospitality as well as for the incredible experience of seeing a country in the making – something one might have probably felt if visiting the United States a couple of centuries ago. ”

“ Russia still pretends to treat Bulgaria as part of its sphere of influence, which is felt in matters of commerce, privatization and investment. While Bulgaria’s re-integration with the West has not been easy, we did it of our own free will, with the result being that the growing EU share in our foreign trade has already exceeded 50% with the share of Russia and other former Soviet republics correspondingly dropping from 60% to 15% within 15 years. ”

“ The Falklands archipelago is made up of two major islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, and several hundred smaller islands including Pebble Island, Keppel Island, Saunders Island, Carcass Island, West Point Island, Jason Islands, New Island, Beaver Island, Staats Island, Weddell Island, Swan Island, Speedwell Island, George Island, Beauchêne Island, Sea Lion Island, Bleaker Island, Lively Island etc. ”

“ Their fragile environmental balance could hardly be maintained without ecologized human activity in the rest of the country and scaling intervention in devastated regions where the environment is unable to self-recover.
(3) ⁠ Conservation areas are exposed to transmitted air, water and soil pollution, anthropogenic changes in the microclimate, as well as noise pollution and visual intrusion. Therefore, the struggle for nature heritage preservation is inseparable from the struggle for sound environment. ”

“ Sponsor of the Parliamentary decision for Bulgaria to join the European Union (1990) , and the Parliamentary decision for Bulgaria to participate in the Allied liberation of Kuwait (1991) .
Participant in the National Round Table for transition to democracy, and member of the Coordinating Council of the Union of Democratic Forces (1990-91) . Coordinator, Marshall Memorial Fellowship Program for Bulgaria of the German Marshall Fund - US (1997-2002) . Founding member, Wilderness Fund - Bulgaria (1989) . Individual campaign against winter Olympics on Vitosha Mountain (1985-88) . ”

“ It must be pointed out that Falklands self-determination is an internal affair between the Falklands people on the one hand, represented by their elected government exercising sovereignty on the Islands themselves, and the British Government on the other hand exercising Falklands sovereignty internationally. ”

“ The territory of the Falkland Islands is also:
0.006 times the size of Greenland (Denmark) ;
0.15 times the size of French Guiana;
0.6 times the size of Slovenia or Israel;
0.7 times the size of Swaziland or Valparaíso region (Chile) ;
0.8 times the size of Schleswig-Holstein province (Germany) or Kaliningrad oblast (Russia) ;
1.1 times the size of Jamaica;
1.2 times the size of Lebanon;
1.3 times the size of Cyprus;
1.4 times the size of Puerto Rico (US) ;
1.7 times the size of the state of Sikkim (India) ;
2.2 times the size of Prince Edward Island province (Canada) ”

“ The Channel Islands (two distinct state entities actually, Jersey and Guernsey) are not exactly devolved units of the UK yet have a close, unquestionably non-colonial relationship with the UK preserving their self-government and local autonomy. Like the Falklands they have no party system, but Guernsey is moving to ministerial form of government. It is worth mentioning that such a fundamental characteristic of the UK Overseas Territories as their full financial autonomy is enjoyed even by Crown Dependencies closely associated with the UK like the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. ”

“ A high proportion of the existing conservation areas are of insufficient size, which fails to guarantee stability and survival of their genetic fund.
(3) ⁠ Through a programme to be worked out by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, to complete the network of national parks by 1993 and that of nature reserves by 1996. Simultaneously to develop the network of regional parks, protected landscapes and protected areas, so that by 2005 the conservation areas cover at least 15 per cent of the national territory. ”

“ Are based on established practices in Antarctic place naming, and incorporate elaborations of the SCAR Work Programme on Antarctic place names.
2. General principles
A geographical name primarily serves to distinguish the feature from all others; it should be unique in Antarctica.
The principal purpose of a name is to supply effective and appropriate means of identifying the feature beyond doubt; commemoration of persons or events is a secondary consideration. ”

“ Nevertheless, the UN Decolonization Committee could be useful in educating the people of the UK Overseas Territories about the available legitimate options of self-determination other than independence and full integration, thereby compensating for the present somewhat narrow-minded insistence by the Foreign Office that any devolution of more power would be granted only within the context of a timetable for independence.
The Argentine sovereignty claim cannot be an obstacle to the Falklands self-determination either. ”

“ However, human activities have reduced their total area in this country twentyfold during the last century. A national action programme for preservation of the existing and partial reconstruction of destroyed wetlands is needed to reverse this unfavourable tendency. ”

“ The Islands further benefit from being one of the gateways to adjacent Antarctica. (By the way, Bulgaria’s presence on Livingston Islands makes it sort of a southern ‘neighbour’ of the Falklands too.)
A most precious asset of any country is its human resources of course, including its demographic potential (which in the Falklands case is comfortably increasing but still tiny) as well as its civil society basis and its political framework. ”

“ Chairman, Antarctic Place-names Commission - Bulgaria since 1994. Co-Director, US-Bulgaria Action Commission since 2003.
Founding member (1991) and Chairman since 2001 of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria; Council member of the Atlantic Treaty Association, Paris since 1992. Founding President of the Manfred Wörner Foundation since 1994. Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Society and Information Foundation since 2000. Founding member, National Association of Immigrants in Bulgaria (2003) . ”

“ One major benefit from the link with Britain appears to be the present democratic system of Falklands government providing for a responsible democratic management of the country on a sustainable basis. The governance of the Falklands, starting with its legislature and ending with say the fisheries patrolling, is an increasingly sophisticated and complex business conducted by the Falkland Islanders and their elected politicians in a fairly mature and efficient manner. ”

“ Let me proceed with some acknowledgements though, lest this preface grows into travel notes featuring also ship wrecks and hulks, gaucho corrals, war monuments and cemeteries, minefields, penguins and upland geese, motorcycle-shepherded sheep etc. ”

“ Confederation of Labour Podkrepa
Dr. Konstantin Trenchev, Plamen Darakchiev and Oleg Chulev
10. Independent Society for the Protection of Human Rights
Rumen Vodenicharov, Metodi Nedyalkov and Georgi Lund
11. ”

“ Devolved integration with the UK is now becoming more popular in Gibraltar, indeed according to a recent opinion poll it is supported by the plurality of Gibraltarians. The basic formula of this option is full self-government, leaving the UK Government responsible for foreign affairs and defense matters, citizenship (but not immigration) and currency, similarly to the relationship between the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. ”

“ Among European overseas territories, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles have ministers plenipotentiary in the Council of Ministers for the Kingdom of Netherlands, dealing with defense, national sovereignty, foreign relations and citizenship. They elect no MPs in the Netherlands Parliament but send delegates when legislation for the entire realm is enacted. ”

“ Moreover, their right to self-determination has already been officially and formally recognized and guaranteed by the British Government through the process of enacting the 1985 Falklands Constitution. This act of transfer of prerogatives from London to Stanley entails that any future decisions regarding the sovereignty of the Falklands would be up to the Islanders alone to make, and this is irreversible. Once recognized/granted, the self-determination cannot be taken away. ”

“ Devolved Falklands would continue to enjoy its present degree of absolute security guaranteed by Britain and thus by Britain’s allies (USA and NATO) who have no match in the field of security. On the contrary, smaller states tend to be heavily dependent on the goodwill of their larger neighbours for their survival. In the Falklands case, no regional Latin American arrangements whatsoever could nullify the risks of unexpected negative developments on the mainland that would render the Falklands vulnerable ”

“ One is greatly impressed by the practice of Falklands democracy, by the public awareness and participation, by the high standards and quality of statesmanship demonstrated by the Falklands Councillors in the first place. ”

“ At each step, Bulgaria assesses the benefits and pays the price involved. Turkey also seeks EU membership but is less ready for it and, while not yet in the EU, has little interest in Bulgaria joining earlier ”