The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria is a future- and youth-oriented non-governmental organization founded in 1991, whose mission is to strengthen the unity, security and defense capacities of the West as a natural habitat of Bulgaria. The ACB is the first and only pro-Atlantic NGO, formed in the territory of the then Warsaw Pact, with the constitutional aim to promote the dissolution of the WP and to stimulate the enlargement of NATO and the EU within east Europe. The speech also marked the official beginning of discussions in the Euro-Atlantic world in favor of disbanding the WP and in favor of NATO’s membership for non-communist members. A few weeks later the then Secretary General of NATO, Dr. Manfred Woener, invited Dr. Passy to lead the first Parliamentary delegation from Central & Eastern Europe in NATO HQ. Dr. Woerner fully endorsed the Bulgarian idea to found the ACB, which was thereupon launched. By virtue of faith, more than a decade later, it was the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, Dr. Solomon Passy, who secured Bulgaria’s invitation to join NATO (2002) and negotiated and signed the Bulgarian accession documents for NATO (2004) and the EU (2005). In the mean time, the ACB proved to be a visionary think-tank, which was successful in conceiving, and aiding, a number of strategic developments involving Bulgaria and the larger Euro-Atlantic area. In the mid ‘90s, ACB initiated discussion concerning the deployment of US military facilities in the Balkans, and within Bulgaria in particular. This goal was achieved during Dr. Passy’s leadership in 2006. Discussions concerning building the Anti-Missile Defense program in Europe are still ongoing. ACB launched (1994) a project of joint Bulgarian-Greek and Bulgarian-Turkish military contingents. The project came to fruition in 1999 with the creation of the South-Eastern European Brigade, SEEBRIG. ACB was the principle public supporter of NATO’s timely involvement in former Yugoslavia and in particular a key supporter of NATO’s operation in Bosnia and Kosovo to counter the inhumane policy of Milosevic. The ACB also lead public debate leading to Bulgaria’s inclusion in the international coalition (1990), which liberated Kuwait from Saddam’s occupation. ACB was the first member of the Atlantic Treaty Association, ATA, invited by a non-NATO member state (1992). ACB helped to form of number of similar organizations concerning with the Balkans, the Caucuses and in Afghanistan and Iraq. ACB succeeded in changing Bulgarian public opinion on NATO, which in 1990 was 15% in favor of NATO and 85% against. By the end of 2004 this had changed to 70% in favor, and 20% against. Serving as the principle foreign policy think-tank in Bulgaria, the ACB has hosted hundreds of speakers: acting Heads of States and Governments, statesmen and leaders of international organizations, as well as Nobel Prize winners.
