“A Day in History”
Solomon Passy, Former Foreign Minister of Bulgaria
Dr. Solomon Passy is the founder and president of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria. Conceived in the 1990s as an NGO, the ACB promoted the idea of dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and Bulgaria’s accession in NATO and the European Union.
In August 1990, Dr. Passy, MP in the Grand National Assembly, drafted a bill for Bulgaria’s accession to NATO. This was the beginning of the public discussion in CEE about the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and NATO and the EU’s eastward enlargement. Minister Passy (2001-2005) successfully negotiated the invitation for Bulgaria’s membership in NATO, and effectively concluded the accession process in 2004 when Bulgaria joined the Alliance.
Dr. Passy MP drafted a parliamentary resolution for Bulgaria joining the EU (1990), while Minister Passy negotiated and signed the EU Accession Treaty in 2005.
In 2008, Solomon and Gergana Passy launched the universal standardization of all GSM mobile chargers in the EU. Their proposal came into effect in January 2011 and saves millions of tons of CO2 emissions and electronic waste every year.
As an MP in the Grand National Assembly in 1990, Dr. Passy was a co-author of the new Bulgarian Constitution of 1991 and a sponsor of the draft bill for abolishing the death penalty.
In the 1980s, he was the leader of Bulgaria’s green movements, and of the opposition to the communist regime and its repression against the ethnic Turkish minority in the country.
At the age of 50 Dr. Passy performed the first of his flights on an F-16 Falcon Fighter of US Air Force, for training of a combat mission destroying a terrorists’ bunker, during a joint BG-US exercise. He experienced the ultimate in aircraft acceleration and maneuverability and was successfully tested in “Nine—g” environment.
Today, Dr. Passy is a pioneer in the elaboration of a national legal framework on space exploration, and a passionate proponent of Bulgaria’s membership in the European Space Agency.
The newest project of the Passy’s is to secure universal public access to Wi-Fi Internet on the entire EU territory – a right that should be regarded as the Fifth EU Freedom (June 2012).
The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria is among the founding sponsors of Bulgaria’s Antarctic expeditions. Dr. Passy visited Antarctica four times, including as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and was honoured to have the Peak Passy on Livingston Island named after him.
Solomon and Gergana Passy take care of their four children.
