The Bulgarian community in Argentina is a bridge between our two countries, Head of State Rumen Radev said as he honoured the Ambassador of the Republic of Argentina, H. E. Alfredo Atanasoff, with the Order of the Madara Horseman, First Class, for his contribution to the development and deepening of bilateral relations. Vice President Iliana Iotova also attended the event.
In his speech at the ceremony, President Radev highlighted Ambassador Atanasoff's consistent efforts to deepen political ties, expand trade and economic relations and strengthen the friendship between the Bulgarian and Argentine people. The Head of State highlighted the diplomat's significant contribution to strengthening Argentina's investment interest in Bulgaria, as well as the development of business and cultural ties in a period saturated with unprecedented global and regional crises.
Rumen Radev expressed his gratitude for the active year-round support that Argentina provides to the Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions. In a few days we will see off another polar expedition from here, from Coat of Arms Hall, and we will again count on your friendship, cooperation and selfless support, the President said.
As a highlight of Ambassador Atanasoff's activity, the Head of State pointed to the celebration organised by the Argentine Embassy in honour of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Argentina. In the President's words, the lectures that Ambassador Alfredo Atanasoff gave at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia and the UNWE had contributed to the young people in Bulgaria getting a much closer feel of Latin America and Argentina.
Ambassador Atanasoff expressed his gratitude for the honour and the high state award he received and recalled that Argentina had been the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with Bulgaria. As successes in the relations between the two countries during his mission in Bulgaria, he highlighted the signing of a new memorandum between the Antarctic institutes of the two countries, the visit to Bulgaria of the governor of the province with the largest Bulgarian colony in Argentina, the agreements on cooperation in the field of culture and education, the political consultations between the South American country and the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the preparations for the holding of an Argentine-Bulgarian commission for bilateral economic cooperation.
It is a double recognition for me to be an ambassador of my country in my grandfather's homeland and to be part of the largest Bulgarian diaspora in Latin America. For Argentina, Bulgaria is a friendly country with which it shares fundamental values such as peace, freedom and justice. We still have unfinished tasks ahead of us and I am sure that the close cooperation between our countries will continue in the future, Ambassador Atanasoff added.