and for centuries, one of the main driving
forces of our development, a condition and guarantee for the future
progress of our socialist fatherland and its tomorrow."

CONDUCT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Constitution of 1971 assigns the conduct of foreign relations to the
National Assembly, the State Council, and the Council of Ministers.
Formulation of foreign policy, however, remains a prerogative of the
BKP. The constitution states that the National Assembly implements
foreign policy but, because the assembly meets only three times each
year in short sessions, the implementation function is passed on to the
State Council during the long interim periods between assembly meetings.
Primary responsibilities of the State Council in foreign affairs (as
opposed to those limited to the periods between National Assembly
meetings) include representation of the country in its international
relations; the appointment, recall, or release from duty of diplomats
and consular officials; the ratification or denunciation of
international agreements; and the establishment of diplomatic and
consular ranks.

Although the ministries of foreign affairs and foreign trade are the
governmental operating agencies in the field of international
relations, in theory and in fact the State Council is the supervisory
body. The State Council exercises control over the activities of the
Council of Ministers and the ministries as stipulated in the
constitution. In essence, the State Council is the most powerful
government organ, not only in foreign affairs but in all governmental
activities. The interlocking of positions between the highest levels of
the party and the highest levels of the government assures that the BKP
program will be implemented.

According to the constitution, the Council of Ministers "organizes the
implementation of the home and foreign policy of the state." The council
is also charged with the concluding of international agreements and the
approval or denunciation of international agreements that are not
subject to ratification. In performing its constitutional duties in
foreign affairs, the Council of Ministers acts through the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the administrative arm of the
government in the execution of foreign policy directives, decrees, and
decisions of the BKP and in representing the country abroad in
embassies, legations, and consular offi