The former President of France ValГ©ry Giscard d'Estaing arrived Tuesday to Bulgaria on a two-day visit at the invitation of the French Embassy in Sofia.

ValГ©ry Giscard d'Estaing was welcomed by Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov at noon at the Bulgarian Presidency. The two discussed the development of the EU and Bulgaria's role as a member of the Union.

"Bulgaria's membership in the EU is an exceptional event for the Bulgarian history", the former French President said during the meeting.

At 2:15 p.m. he is going attend the opening of the Conference "Spring for Europe" organized by the French and German Embassies in Sofia in cooperation with Robert Schumann and Konrad Adenauer Foundations.

Later D'Estaing is having meetings with Bulgaria's Parliament Speaker Georgi Pirinski and with the Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev.

Upon his arrival, the former French President, who was also the President of the Convention for the Future of Europe in 2002-2003, said he hoped the Bulgarian government would move quickly to carry out the necessary reforms, which should be supported by the Bulgarian citizens.

"During my meetings with the Prime Minister and the President today, I am going to tell them it is essential that Bulgaria be committed to the reforms expected by the EU. These are not reforms against Bulgaria. If you meet somebody in the street and ask them "What kind of justice system do you want to have?", they will answer they want it to be independent, competent, quick.", D'Estaing declared.

He also emphasized the EC was preparing a report, in which the government's efforts would be evaluated, and that the imposing of a safeguard clause was possible. Yet, D'Estaing said he hoped this would not be the case.

Before the Bulgarian private Darik Radio the former French President, who is also known as a proponent of a stronger EU, said the chance a Bulgarian could become the President of the Union was rather small.

"For me it is important to answer the question whether one state that has just joined the EU and knows its work less, could govern the system. This is an interesting question for me. Vaclav Havel could be a good candidate some time ago because he enjoyed global recognition. The size of one country is not important. It does not matter that Bulgaria is small in territory. What matters is experience", D'Estaing explained.

France's former President is one of the leading opponents of Turkey's EU accession. On Monday he was positive that the enlargement process had to stop, stating: "This is no way hostile attitude towards Turkey. I know the importance of this country with its identity and culture. But this is a state outside Europe. The EU already has 500 million inhabitants, and it could not be enlarged forever", D'Estaing said.

He compared Turkey's case to Morocco - another similar country, which could claim it had the right to join the EU but had no grounds for that. "Imagine what would happen if we had to adapt Turkey's legislation to the EU legislation", stated the former French President, who is going to visit Bulgaria's second largest city Plovdiv on Wednesday.

ValГ©ry Giscard d'Estaing was the President of the French Republic in 1974-81, when he was defeated by Francois Mitterrand. Ever since D'Estaing has been active as a French and EU politician and public figure.

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