Solomon Passy

Infobox MP
name = Solomon Isaac Passy
д-р Соломон Исак Паси
honorific-prefix = Dr.
honorific-suffix =

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caption = Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev
constituency_MP = 2-Burgas
parliament = 40th Bulgarian
primeminister =
majority =
party = NDSV
term_start = 11 July 2005
term_end =
predecessor =
successor =
nationality = Bulgarian
birth_date = Birth date and age|1956|12|22|df=y
birth_place = Plovdiv
death_date =
death_place =
website = [http://www.parliament.bg/?page=ns&lng=bg&nsid=3&action=show&did=9 CV S.Passy]

Solomon Isaac Passy ( _bg. Соломон Исак Паси) (born December 22, 1956) is a Bulgarian politician, foreign minister of Bulgaria from July 2001 until August 2005, and the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE in 2004.

Summary

Solomon Passy was born in Plovdiv. He is the son of famous Bulgarian philosopher Isaac Passy. He is a mathematician and holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Logic and Computer Science from Sofia University. He was involved in the dissident movement under totalitarianism. In 1990, Passy was the founding President and CEO of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, a non-governmental organization to lobby for NATO membership, and the founder and spokesman of the Green Party of Bulgaria.

Career

*June 2007 – to present: Special Adviser to the Macedonian Government on NATO accession
*August 2006 – to present: Chairman of the Transparency and Accountability Committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
*August 2005 – to present: Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 40th National Assembly
*August 2005 – to present: Chairman of the Bulgaria–USA caucus of the 40th National Assembly
*June 2005 – to present: MP, National Movement Simeon II, third term as MP since 1990.
*July 2001 – August 2005: Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg.

Highlight of accomplishments

- NATO - During Dr. Passy’s mandate and with his proactive involvement Bulgaria was invited to join NATO (Prague 2002) and effectively joined the Alliance (March 2004). This was the successful completion of Dr. Passy’s fourteen-years-efforts for Bulgaria’s accession to NATO.In 2003 with the proactive participation of Minister Passy, the Governments of the US and Bulgaria started negotiations for the establishment of joint US-Bulgarian military facilities in Bulgaria. The negotiations were successfully completed and ratified by the Bulgarian Parliament in May 2006 during Dr. Passy’s mandate as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.In July 2004, Minister Passy launched the idea for a common code for hostage crisis management which evolved into the Policy statement of the Global coalition against terrorism.

- EU - During his mandate as Minister of Foreign Affairs and with his proactive involvement Bulgaria concluded the negotiations with the European Union on all chapters (2004), agreed with the EU (2002) on the date of accession – January 1, 2007, signed the Accession Treaty (April 2005) and ratified the Treaty (May 2005). During his term as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Bulgaria succeeded in finalizing all procedures and effectively joined the Union in 2007. This has been the culmination of Dr. Passy’s fifteen-years-efforts for accession of Bulgaria to the EU

- UNSC - During his mandate and with his active involvement Bulgaria successfully served on the UN Security Council (2002-2003). Thus Bulgaria contributed to some of the most important Security Council resolutions, defining the security policy of the international community after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. Dr. Passy chaired the UNSC in September 2002 and December 2003. In 2001 – 2005 the Government made the key decisions for Bulgaria’s participation in the international efforts for the liberation, democratization and stabilization of Afghanistan and Iraq, which were the milestones of Bulgaria’s long-term foreign policy.

- OSCE - In 2004 Dr. Passy was the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. He was a member of the OSCE Troika during 2003-2005. During his tenure OSCE reached a consensus on further reforms in the Organization, stepped up efforts in fighting anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination, contributed to democratic processes in Georgia and Ukraine, supported peace efforts in Georgia, Moldova, Kosovo, Armenia and Azerbaijan and addressed the countries of Central Asia. The Organization resumed its activities in the Middle East and reached out to new countries in Asia.

- Balkans and Neighbours - In 2004-2005 Minister Passy launched the vision for his country to become a pro-active exporter of Euro-Atlantic values to Balkan and Black Sea regions. He proposed and signed agreements in that respect with Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Montenegro, Georgia and Ukraine.In 2005 Minister Passy launched a strategy, adopted by the Bulgarian Government, to almost double the crossing points over Bulgarian borders in the period 2005-15, which would bring the Balkans closer to the European infrastructural standards.

- Pope John Paul II visited Bulgaria - In May 2002 the Pope visited Bulgaria. During his visit he denied the so called “Bulgarian connection” in the attempted assassination in 1981. This was the successful completion of Dr. Passy’s eight-years-effort to invite Pope John Paul II to Bulgaria and to restore the country’s reputation.

- The Bulgarian medics in Libya - On July 24, 2001 Minister Passy inherited with his portfolio the very dramatic case with 6 Bulgarian nationals and 1 Palestinian doctor detained in Libyan prison, unjustly accused for deliberate infection of over than 400 Libyan children by HIV/AIDS. Dr. Passy built up the strategy of his Government for negotiations with Libya, based on five basic principles: Full commitment of the Bulgarian state and government with these case;Establishment a full fledged dialogue with Libya, channelled through Seif Al-Islam and his Qaddafi Charity Foundation. Dr. Passy visited 5 times Libya, met 3 times with Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and relevant Libyan authorities;Full fledged internationalization of the case, realized, among others, through EU and US, UN and UNSC, NATO, OSCE, CE, The Pope, The Ecumenical Patriarch. These efforts resulted in the three-lateral format EU-US-BG (March 2005) which in concert conducted and concluded the negotiations with Libya.Support of building conditions for full reintegration of Libya in the international community;Satisfactory and respectful solution for both sides, based on the knowledge of the full innocence of the six Bulgarian medics and the Palestinian doctor, and the full sympathy with the tragedy of over than 400 Libyan families of the children in Benghazi, infected by the HIV/AIDS.This strategy was justified by the liberation of the medics six years later, on July 24, 2007, when Dr. Passy was Chairman of the Foreign Affaires Committee and Vice-Chairman of the BG-Libyan caucus in the Parliament.

- North Korea - After the successful developments with the Bulgarian medics in Libya’s, in July 2007, Dr. Passy assumed a good-will visit to Pyongyang to propose to the government of North Korea the positive model of Libya for reintegration in the international community and to share the painful Bulgarian know-how in this process. A week later the breakthrough in the 6-party negotiations and the Summit between North and South Korea were announced. - MFA - Under the leadership of Dr. Passy, the Bulgarian government established the Position of the Minister of European Affairs (2002) as well as the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003) – the first Diplomatic School in the history of Bulgaria. Dr. Passy created also the Cultural Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005) – the largest open air collection of sculptures in Bulgaria.

*July 2001: MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security Committee, of the 39th National Assembly.- Under the leadership of Dr. Passy, the Bulgarian Parliament decided to unite the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees in order to secure a coherent foreign and defence policy, paving the way to the country’s accession to NATO.

*1991-2001: Founding President and CEO of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, the first pro-Atlantic NGO ever founded in a non-NATO member state- Dr. Passy launched (1994) the idea of joint Bulgarian-Greek and Bulgarian-Turkish military contingents which materialized in 1999 with the creation of the South-Eastern European Brigade, SEEBRIG.- Dr. Passy was a prominent public supporter of NATO’s timely involvement in Former Yugoslavia and in particular of NATO’s operation in Kosovo to counter the destructive policy of Milosevic.- In the mid ‘90s Dr. Passy was a strong defender of the movement of US military facilities in Europe eastwards and to Bulgaria in particular – a goal materialized with his leadership in 2006.

*1990-1991: MP, Grand National Assembly, Green Party, Union of Democratic Forces (UDF)- As an MP in August 1990, Dr. Passy drafted a bill for Bulgaria’s withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and accession to NATO, which was the start of the nations’ efforts to join the Alliance. This was also the beginning of the public discussion in Central and Eastern Europe for the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and NATO’s enlargement eastwards. The Warsaw Pact was officially disbanded in July 1991 while the enlargement of NATO materialized in 1999.- In 1990 Dr. Passy drafted also the bill Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union.- Dr. Passy was a co-author of the new Bulgarian Constitution (1991)- In August 1990 after Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait, Dr. Passy was a co-sponsor of the bill which authorized Bulgaria’s participation in the international coalition liberating Kuwait. In the next decade he was continuously advocating the necessity of the liberation of Iraq itself from the tyrannical regime of Saddam. This eventually happened in 2003 and the Bulgarian Government gave a significant contribution to this end.- In 1990, Dr. Passy was the sponsor of the draft bill for abolishment of the death penalty in Bulgaria, a cause which he defended since 1985. The respective law was approved in 1998.

*1980-1994: PhD studies and Assistant Professor in Mathematical Logic and Computer Science at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Passy and his team completed a study on modal logics, originally initiated by Aristotle in the 4th century B.C., framing the theory of the necessary truths in the possible worlds – popular today as hybrid logics. Before that he was studying the boundaries of human understanding and limits of knowledge. Dr. Solomon Passy is the author of dozens of publications in leading international journals on logics and computer science.

Public

*2005-2007: Vice-President of the National Movement Simeon II (NMSS)
*2002-2005: Member of Political Council of NMSS
*1996-1999: Vice-Chairman of the Atlantic Treaty Association, Paris
*1999: Co-chairman of the Host Committee for the visit of President Bill Clinton to Bulgaria
*1994: Leader of the Bulgarian delegation for the Audience with H.H. Pope John Paul II
*1991: Chairman of the Host Committee for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Sofia
*1993-2005: Member of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 13th Bulgarian Antarctic Expeditions to Livingston *Island, Antarctica. He was the first Bulgarian Cabinet Member to visit the Bulgarian Antarctic *Base. As a result of the efforts of the Bulgarian Antarctic community and of Dr. Passy in *particular, in 1998 Bulgaria was accepted as the 28th consultative member to the Antarctic *Treaty. In recognition of his contribution to the Bulgarian Antarctic program, a peak on *Livingston Island was named after Dr. Passy.
*1989: Founder and Spokesman of the Green Party of Bulgaria
*1990-1991: Co-founder and member of the Coordinating Council of UDF
*1989-1990: Participant in the National Round Table for transition to democracy
*1989: Activist of Ecoglasnost opposition movement
*1985-1989: In opposition to anti-Muslim repressive policy of the Communist regime

He is currently a Member of Parliament of the 40th National Assembly of Bulgaria, and Chairperson of the Foreign Policy Committee.

Solomon Passy took part in several Antarctic expeditions to Livingston Island.

Passy is also well-known for his Trabant. The car became an ironic symbol of Bulgaria's aspirations to join NATO and the EU when Passy gave rides in the car to several NATO Secretary-Generals, including Manfred Wörner and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Pope John Paul II, on a visit to Sofia in 2002, blessed Passy's muddy-gray Trabant. Passy transported numerous dignitaries in his Trabant, beginning with an impromptu lift he provided late NATO Secretary General Manfred Wörner to the Queen's Birthday celebration at the British Embassy in Sofia in summer 1991. The car, which was parked in front of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry during Passy's tenure as minister, is now on display at the Bulgarian National Historical Museum.

Education and degrees

*1985 Ph.D. in Mathematical Logic & Computer Science, Sofia University

*1979 M.S. in Mathematical Logic, Sofia University

Co-founder of:

*- Bulgarian Aero-Space Agency (1993)
*- Manfred Woerner Foundation (1994)
*- Bulgarian Antarctic Institute (1994)
*- Bulgarian Wildlife Fund (1989)

Member of:

* Board of trustees of the American University in Bulgaria
* Board of trustees of the [http://www.bfu.bg/English/ Burgas Free University]
* Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds - [http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/national/bulgaria/index.html BirdLife Bulgaria]
* National Geographic Society
* Honorary Member of [http://www.raoulwallenberg.net The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation]

International State Awards

* Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta’ Italiana (I classe), Italy, 2006
* [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orden_de_Isabel_la_Cat%C3%B3lica Orden de Isabel la Católica] (Gran Cruz), Spain, 2006
* Order of Léopold II (Grand Cross), Belgium, 2004
* [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orden_del_M%C3%A9rito_Civil Orden Del Mérito Civil] (Gran Cruz), Spain, 2003
* Orden Infante Don Enrique (Grã-Cruz), Portugal, 2002

Awards

*- Doctor Honoris Causa of the South-West University of Bulgaria (2005).
*- Dr. Passy is the bearer of the first Balkan Peace Award, awarded by the South East European Journalists Union (Edirne) for his contribution to peace in the region (2004).
*- Award for contribution to social peace from the Turkish daily newspaper “Zaman”.
*- The American Jewish Committee’s Distinguished statesman award in recognition of distinguished leadership to advance the principles of peace, democracy and international cooperation (2002).
*-Award for longstanding dedication to Euro-Atlantic ideals from the Greek Association for Atlantic and European cooperation (2001).
*-Honorary citizen of the town of Nedelino (2003).

Languages

*Bulgarian (native)
*English (fluent)
*Russian
*French
*Understands the Balkan Slavic languages: Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Montenegrian, Serbian

Hobbies

Solomon Passy loves sports and occasionally practices some:
*jogging
*swimming and rappelling
*He was honoured a black belt in aikido. Enjoys chess.
*At the age of 50 Dr. Passy performed his first flight on an F-16 fighter, for a 1.5 hour training of a combat mission destroying a terrorists’ bunker, during a joint BG-US exercise over the space of Bulgaria.

External links

* [http://www.parliament.bg/?page=ns&lng=bg&nsid=3&action=show&did=9 Solomon Passy CV, National Assembly of Bulgaria]
* [http://www.parliament.bg/kvp/ National Assembly of Bulgaria, Foreign Affairs Committee]
* [http://www.mfa.government.bg/en/page.htm Pope blesses Trabant during visit to Bulgaria]
* [http://www.botschaft-bulgarien.de/BB/index.php?option=content&task=section&id=1&Itemid=93 Foreign Ministry, Network Operator React to Espionage Allegations]
* [http://www.oscepa.org/admin/getbinary.asp?fileid=998 OSCE PA member directory (Bulgaria): Passy on page 3] from OSCE Parliamentary Assembly