At a ceremony today President Rumen Radev awarded US Ambassador to Bulgaria Eric Rubin the Stara Planina first degree order for the diplomat’s contribution to the development of the US-Bulgarian relations.
The Stara Planina first degree order with which I award US Ambassador to Bulgaria Eric Rubin today is an expression of the importance our country attaches to the strategic partnership with the US, President Rumen Radev said at the ceremony of conferring the highest state order to the diplomat, whose diplomatic mission will end this year.
“Ambassador Rubin had the honor to lead the US embassy during different in nature global challenges. However, he ensured that in this complicated international situation our relations were on the rise and updated the agenda of the bilateral relations. A lot of top-level meetings were held and visits made, which outlined for years to come the direction of our relations,” Rumen Radev said. In his words, Ambassador Rubin brought new impulse into the US-Bulgarian relations, in the defense and security sphere, particularly focusing on the modernization of the Bulgarian armed forces. “The scope and intensity of bilateral military exercises and trainings were expanded during his mandate. The cooperation in fighting terrorism was also strengthened,” the President said.
Rumen Radev also highlighted Eric Rubin’s contribution to deepening the trade relations between Bulgaria and the US. In the President’s words, a constant and solid increase of bilateral trade has been observed in the past years.
“Ambassador Rubin was the approachable ambassador, who felt the pulse of the Bulgaria society. Launching numerous and various initiatives, making visits to a lot of places in the country, holding meetings with pupils, students, representatives of culture, education and business, he found access to the ordinary Bulgarian citizen and sent his messages,” the President said. Rumen Radev also noted the US ambassador’s interest in Bulgarian language and history, which he is well-grounded in.
The Bulgarian-US relations are stronger today than they were three and a half years ago when we arrived thanks to the work of Bulgarians and Americans, Eric Rubin said and voiced gratitude for the honor paid to him. In his words, high added-value economic sectors in Bulgaria were developed with US help, such as information technologies. Hundreds of companies have made investments in Bulgaria in the past years, Eric Rubin said.
The ambassador voiced his contentment with Bulgaria’s efforts to achieve energy independence and diversification. He noted the progress made in cultivating long-term relations in the spheres of security, fighting terrorism, migration and defense and also the progress in interoperability.
Eric Rubin also stressed the development of the ties between the two peoples and provided the example of more than 100 000 young people who conducted summer internships in the US. It will not be easy for me to leave Bulgaria, the ambassador said and assured that he will come back to the country because it is like a second home for him.