BULGARIA: The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, flew into the middle of a political crisis in Bulgaria last night, arriving in Sofia as the government faced a no-confidence vote over its alleged failure to raise living standards and fight rampant crime in the EU candidate country.
The cabinet of Mr Simeon Saxe-Coburg, the former king of Bulgaria and now its prime minister, survived the ballot by 126 votes to 106, but that did little to reassure the nation as it implements crucial reforms ahead of planned EU accession in 2007.
Before the vote, opposition leaders attacked Mr Saxe-Coburg's team of Western-educated technocrats for failing to alleviate poverty and allowing a decline in the standard of healthcare and education.
They also queried a number of deals, including a billion-dollar highway project that was awarded without tender and the failed sale of state tobacco firm Bulgartabak, and questioned the government's ability to fight organised crime, against which Brussels has demanded action.
Despite implementing major economic reform, and guiding Bulgaria into NATO and to the doorstep of the EU, Mr Saxe-Coburg's National Movement for Simeon II party is given little chance against the Socialist opposition in elections due in June.
In recognition of Ireland's support for Bulgaria's EU membership and help in completing accession talks, Mr Ahern is due to receive the country's highest award, before holding talks with Mr Saxe-Coburg and president Georgi Parvanov.
Local news agencies reported that, later today, Mr Ahern is expected to travel to Warsaw to discuss EU and bilateral issues with Poland's prime minister, Mr Marek Belka, and receive an award from Polish businessmen for Ireland's role as EU president last year. Poland and nine other, mostly central European, nations joined the bloc last May.