President's reception at Bulgaria, Albania, his final stops, shouldn't include protests

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgaria has lost 13 soldiers in Iraq, but says it is committed to the U.S.-led coalition at least until next spring, and Albania professes such an affinity for America that it has issued three stamps of President Bush's likeness and the Statue of Liberty.

Dogged by protesters at his other European stops this past week, Bush can count on a warm reception when he wraps up his tour with visits to the two Balkan countries -- both staunch U.S. allies who see clear benefits to a cozy relationship with Washington.

"Albanians identify the United States of America as the cradle of liberty and democracy," said Albert Rakipi of the Albanian Institute for International Studies. Bush's visit to the mostly-Muslim country is "a thank you for Albania's nonstop support of U.S. policy."

Bush will make a stop in the Albanian capital, Tirana, today to meet with the president and prime minister and greet Albanian soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He will visit Bulgaria on Monday to do the same before returning to Washington.

Albania recently decided to triple its deployment in Afghanistan to 140 troops, and it has about 120 troops in Iraq -- a presence that President Alfred Moisiu says will not end as long as the Americans are engaged there.

Bulgaria recently struck a deal with the United States allowing U.S. troops to be deployed at several Bulgarian military facilities. Parliament recently extended the Iraq mission until March 2008.

Albanian and American flags and a banner declaring "Proud to be Partners" flutter on a square once decorated with a bust of dictator Enver Hoxha, whose communist regime virtually cut off the nation from the rest of the world for four decades.

Hoxha died in 1985, and Albania emerged from isolation in 1990. It remains one of Europe's poorest countries.

In an interview with local media before his trip, Bush said that to him, Albania evokes images of "Muslim people who can live at peace" and are "excited to be living in an open society."

Many Albanians hope Bush will press the case for independence in neighboring Kosovo.

A U.N. plan would give internationally-supervised statehood to the Serbian province dominated by ethnic Albanians, but Russia has threatened a veto at the U.N. Security Council, contending it would set a dangerous precedent for other independence-minded regions around the world.

The U.S. strongly supports independence, and Bush's visit "comes at the right time for Kosovo in the final moments of settling its final status of independence," said Pirro Misha, a prominent Albanian intellectual.

In Bulgaria, once the most loyal Soviet ally during the Cold War, U.S. flags also cover parts of downtown Sofia, where Bush will meet with top leaders. As in Albania, Bush also plans to greet soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and express gratitude for Bulgaria's involvement.

Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said his government wants NATO more involved in a U.S. missile defense system that would be based in the Czech Republic and Poland and hopes the shield can be repositioned so it protects Bulgaria as well.

"Our wish is not to find ourselves in a zone of unequal security," Kalfin said.

Many Bulgarians feel caught in the middle of rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia, which fiercely opposes the plan. They also feel squeezed economically: Bulgaria is almost entirely dependent on Russian energy supplies, and its reputation for crime and corruption has made U.S. businesses hesitant to invest.

A few hundred pro-Communist demonstrators rallied against Bush's visit in Sofia on Saturday, holding posters that read "Stop Bush" and chanting slogans against him.

But others, like 38-year-old economist Petar Iliev, hope Bush's visit will give Bulgaria an image boost.

"It is very important for Bulgaria's reputation that America's leader is visiting," he said. "It shows the world that we are on the right track."