The Atlantic Club Of Bulgaria

The ACB is the first and only pro- Atlantic NGO, formed in the territory of the then Warsaw Pact, with the constitutional aim to promote the dissolution of the WP and to stimulate the enlargement of NATO and the EU within east Europe. ACB was the first member of the Atlantic Treaty Association, ATA, invited by a non-NATO member state (1992). ACB helped to form of number of similar organizations concerning with the Balkans, the Caucuses and in Afghanistan and Iraq. ACB succeeded in changing Bulgarian public opinion on NATO, which in 1990 was 15% in favor of NATO and 85% against. By the end of 2004 this had changed to 70% in favor, and 20% against. ACB took the leadership to establish a permanent Bulgarian presence in Antarctica, to join the Antarctic Treaty (1998) and to support Bulgarian activities in space. Serving as the principle foreign policy think-tank in Bulgaria, the ACB has hosted hundreds of speakers: acting Heads of States and Governments, statesmen and leaders of international organizations, as well as Nobel Prize winners.