multimedia archive
24 Hours Daily
July 2, 2009
“U.S. Embassy Can Survive Three Weeks without Water and Electricity”
There is always some sort of mystery surrounding U.S. Embassies abroad. This was the case with the new Embassy compound, built on the edge of South Park in Sofia. Even back when the construction of the new Embassy building began several years ago, there were rumors that CIA was building a bunker for its HQ in the Balkans.
Ambassador Nancy McEldowney, who recently announced the early end of her term in Sofia because of a new high level appointment in Washington, is the first head of the U.S. Mission in Sofia who decided to open up until now inaccessible areas of the compound to a few representatives of the Bulgarian media, among them 24 Hours Daily. On the eve of the U.S. Independence Day national holiday, she even invited the journalists to her personal office where interviews have never been conducted.
“Look at this unforgettable view,” she says, pointing at the two corner windows filled with the lush greenery of South Park over which Vitosha’s might ridge arches, this time covered clouds and rain.
“I will definitely miss this view in Washington. But my office at the State Department overlooks the National Mall with the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials,” adds the Ambassador, who will soon take over the position of Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary on European and Eurasian Affairs.
McEldowney takes the chance to mention her favorite place in the new Embassy building – the lobby in front of the “Forrest” painting by American artist Wolf Kahn.
The building features works of art on each of its levels, both Bulgaria and American artists, such as Prof. Svetlin Russev.
The artwork was purchased through a special State Department fund. Each Ambassador is given the opportunity to contribute to the collection, based on their taste and ideas.
All Embassy employees are proud that this is the first U.S. Embassy in the world which has an environmental certificate. This means that only environmentally-friendly materials have been used in the Embassy construction and that it was furnished with state-of-the art equipment and an installation for maintaining the optimum living conditions and to save energy.
“The microclimate’s parameters in every room are set centrally so that everyone in the building feels comfortable,” says Bulgarian engineer Rumen Pavlov who is in charge of the maintenance and operation of the intelligent facilities. According to him, these technologies provide the opportunity to save up to 20% on the Embassy’s energy bills. It also emerged that the Embassy has enough back-up resources to provide its own water and electricity for 21 days.
In addition to the main building, the compound also includes a large logistical building as well as technical maintenance workshops for the Embassy vehicles, as well as the living quarters of the U.S. Marines who take care of security in all U.S. Embassies around the world.
One of the most important things in the court yard is the open-air playground, which is part of the childcare facility available to Americana and Bulgarian employees of the Embassy. The weather today was wonderful and the children were playing outside under the watchful eye of daycare teachers. The indoor daycare facility is just as picturesque.
The Embassy employees, in general, have a large number of services available to them, saving them many trips around the city; there is a DSK bank branch, a post office, travel office, etc.
“It all looks like paradise to me now,’ says new Press Attaché Vincent Campos, which is understandable considering he was previously posted at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Before bringing us up the emergency staircase from the ground floor to the Ambassador’s office, Campos also takes us to the office where the visa section is located. You can see the visa officials at their counters where they are interviewing U.S. visa applicants – a coveted place for many Bulgarians looking for a life across the ocean. Inside, it’s quiet and comfy. We ask one of the Bulgarian employees if they are afraid that they would lose their jobs when the visa requirements for Bulgarians are lifted. “Not at all. Only short-term visitor and business visas requirements will be lifted. For the rest, Bulgarians would have to come see us again,” she explains. The visa section is the only Embassy section accessible to the public, but only after a security check and the visitors then walk a separate pathway to the Consular Section.
The security measures are probably the most shocking aspect for any outside visitor. The person should have a special invitation to visit, must leave their ID and cell phone at the entrance, and go through a security metal detector. The security guards don’t even allow people to stay close to the entrance if they are not there on business. Inside the building, there are also other areas with various levels of security and access for the employees.
The Embassy employees are used to the security measures and are resigned to the sterile security environment they work in. They just know that this is the case with all American institutions around the world and take it for granted. Why America needs to fence itself off from the rest of world is another issue….
This is how we, the media, also treat the security measures, especially those of us who often visit the Embassy. Even now, after being specially invited to tour the facilities, the photographers were not allowed to take photos in the court yard, only in the Ambassador’s office.
The Ambassador herself says that she and her husband, retired AF pilot Tim Hayes and their two children, have their favorite trails in South Park, near the Embassy and have no concerns walking there by themselves. Actually, they recently hiked to the Rila Lakes. “There are so many other beautiful places in Bulgaria where we would like to visit. This is why I am not saying goodbye to this country – it will always remain in my heart and we will be back again,” admits Ambassador McEldowney.
______________________________
U.S. Ambassador McEldowney: I feel Sad that I’m Leaving So Soon
Nancy McEldowney, the U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria is Libras. She was born on October 6 and has been serving in Foreign Service since 1984.
Current position: the U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria since 2008. Previous positions: DCM in Azerbaijan and after that - DCM in Turkey
Future appointment: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs. Married to Tim Hayes, retired pilot. They have two adopted daughters – Jessica, 9 and Alyssa. Native state – Florida. And this is where her family home is.
Mrs. McEldowney, what are your impressions with the election campaign in Bulgaria? Do you have any concerns about the political process in this country?
The people of Bulgaria will go to the polling stations in a few days and will decide on the future government of this country. The U.S, government has made it very clear that it does not interfere in the domestic political affairs. We don’t have favorites among the political parties or candidates – this is not our business. But we will follow with interest the negotiations on the makeup of a next ruling coalition. We hope that Bulgaria will have a strong government as a result of those elections. We want the best result of the best possible election process.
What do you think about vote buying?
We were very concerned about the reports of vote buying and other types of vote fraud during the elections for European Parliament. I hope very much that this won’t happen at the national elections again.
Vote buying is a negative phenomenon in many ways. It is bad for those who sell their votes because they deny themselves the right to vote. It’s bad for the parties who buy votes because this undermines the legitimacy of every participant in the election process.
Corruption is in the focus of the elections campaign. Barack Obama personally asked you to work tirelessly in this regard. Have you been following his advice?
Many people in the Bulgarian government and at the American Embassy worked hard on the problem with the fight against organized crime and corruption. However, hard work is important but what is more important is the results. The progress that has been made is not sufficient, and the results are not satisfactory. I say this as a friend and an ally. Corruption exists everywhere – in the United States and in any other country too. The question is what mechanisms to fight corruption have been established, and if it can be indentified and limited so that the effect it has on the society, economy, and politics can be minimized.
It is important for the new government to have the ability and the powers to lead the fight against OC and corruption. It needs a concrete and clear plan what needs to be done and the timeline within which it will be done. All this have to be made public so that the media and the people can monitor the implementation of that plan and keep the government accountable. Of course curbing corruption does not happen overnight. There is no “silver bullet” against it. The solution is – hard, persistent, and constant efforts. Everyone can make promises. The question is that promises should be kept and results should be seen. The media have an important role to play to keep the authorities accountable.
Other important feature of this campaign is the criticism against the so called ethnic model. The ethnic model is something for which Bulgaria has been taking credit for quite a long time.
Bulgaria is known to be a place of ethnic tolerance. This model gives the different ethnic groups a possibility to live together in peace. The rhetoric in this campaign was quite controversial. It speaks badly about those who stir tension. Every time when the language of hatred is driving the people apart instead of uniting them the results are negative. That’s why we look upon those attempts with regret. And that’s why we stand even firmer by the principles of tolerance, ethnic, religious, and other type of diversity because it makes us stronger.
You are taking a high position in Washington. What is your job going to be?
The title itself is rather long. The essence is that I will work at a Bureau which deals with all – about 50 – European states, Including Russia, with NATO, EU, and OSCE. This involves contacts with more than 80 posts and it is a big challenge for me. I am preparing for this job now. And it was a big honor to be offered such an appointment.
On the other hand I am sad that I have to leave Bulgaria so early. My family and I felt Bulgaria like home. I launched a lot of projects and initiatives which I have to give up now. But many of them will be part of my future job so I will follow their development.
At your new job will work to bring President Obama to Bulgaria?
I can’t rule out such a visit. We’ll see. His schedule is very busy. But Obama’s administration showed that this region is priority to us. Vice President Biden was on a trip to the Balkans recently.
Do you stay in touch with your predecessor who is now in Moscow?
John Beyrle is an old friend of mine. We know each other for 20 years. I have worked together on many project, we do that now too – through email messages, the way we work with the other Ambassadors in the region. He is very interested in Bulgaria. He’s been here twice for which I envy him because I’ve spent here only a year.
Who’s going to succeed you here?
We don’t know yet. They are looking for the right person.
Do you help with that?
(Laughing) Yes, as much as I can.
The Bulgarians are very much interested in how soon they’ll be able to travel to the United States without visas?
There a tendency here to look at the removal of the visas as a miracle that will solve many problems immediately. It is very wrong. Whoever has a good reason to travel – to study, to do business, or to travel as a tourist – he or she would get a visa. The VWP has certain criteria that have to be met. If Bulgaria meets those criteria it will join the Program. For example, some of those criteria is the introduction of biometric passports and bringing the visa refusal rate below 10%. Now it is around 13-15%.