TROOPS LAND IN BULGARIA IN SUPPORT OF ATLANTIC RESOLVE-SOUTH

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

U.S. Air Force members assigned to the 62nd Airlift Wing based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, unload two U.S. Army Stryker Combat Vehicles belonging to Eagle Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, March 30, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. William A. Tanner.

U.S. soldiers prepare to unload two Stryker Combat Vehicles belonging to Eagle Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, March 30, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. William A. Tanner. 

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MITOV

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks With Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov After Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sofia, Bulgaria
January 15, 2015

FOREIGN MINISTER MITOV: (Via interpreter) Dear Mr. Secretary, dear colleagues, for me it was an honor to host the official visit of the State Secretary of the United States John Kerry in Bulgaria. Today, we reaffirmed our strong strategic partnership between the two countries and we adopted the joint statement for the media, which is at your disposal already.

A few words on the achieved agreements. Strengthening our cooperation in the field of security and defense, energy security and diversification, rule of law, education, people-to-people ties, including by creating joint working groups, is a strong message for the strength and resilience of our relations. Our strategic partnership, our common democratic values, the high-level dialogue, and the excellent cooperation, Bulgaria treasures this highly.

In response to the challenges and changes in the geopolitical environment caused by the conflict in the Ukraine and the growing terrorist threat from the Middle East, we – our efforts in this area will contribute to improving the situation in the region and globally.

We also reaffirmed our efforts for expanding NATO, including the countries from the West Balkans in the NATO alliance, and Bulgaria will be the guarantor. The support of the U.S. in modernizing our military and the implementation of the NATO Readiness Action Plan will increase the security of the eastern borders of (inaudible) and the entire region.

Energy security is also of key importance. Our common goal is to attract investments to guarantee supply and distribution, as well as to build interconnectivity with neighboring countries.

Among the major areas in our collaboration is our effort to expand our trade and economic relations, including goods turnover and attracting new American investments in Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s potential in ICT, machine building, and other sectors will help her to attract more investments from the United States, especially in high-tech productions and in services with high added value. This topic is not only bilateral; it is also within the transatlantic relations. And here I ought to mention the TTIP and our support for the constructive negotiations between the EU and the United States on signing this agreement.

The connection – the ties between Bulgaria and law enforcement and security institutions and bodies are also on the rights, and then cooperation in combating human traffic, drug traffic, cyber crime, et cetera.

Bulgaria and the United States will also work on the people-to-people ties, on removing the visa regime for Bulgarian people. Mr. Secretary, I hope that your visit has shown you that Bulgaria is a good friend of – and a good ally of the United States, and we will continue our work for improving the situation in the region, in Europe, and globally.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Daniel, thank you very much. I’m appreciative to the foreign minister, to Minister Mitov, for his very warm welcome here at the foreign ministry. And I’m thankful to him for refueling me with a very good lunch.

I’m appreciative also for the good conversation that we had. I’m not going to repeat everything that I said earlier with the prime minister, and I’m not going to repeat everything that Daniel just said in an excellent summary of our discussion. So he has pretty fully described to all of you the breadth of our relationship and the importance of the United States-Bulgaria partnership and friendship. And it is a friendship, and it is a partnership.

And I want to emphasize that we had a broad discussion at the luncheon. I asked a lot of questions. I particularly was educated about the constitution, the constitutional process, the political process, and of course the judiciary, and the reform initiative, which this government is committed to, which is so important to the ability of Bulgaria to be able to attract capital investment and to be able to make the progress that everybody hopes for.

It’s obviously no secret that the transatlantic community is facing a lot of challenges at this point in time, and the job of creating a Europe that is whole and free and at peace is not a finished job at all. So we are focused on how to make the most progress as fast as possible in this important partnership in order to meet the challenges that we face head on. And it is clear that both the United States and Bulgaria are absolutely committed to investing in the sources of our strength, and that means in a strong, clean, and accountable judiciary, in democratic institutions, but also in our citizens, because in the end it’s the citizens who define a country.

We believe that, on energy security, particularly, there is a very important economic and security priority that we intend to follow up on in the serious ways that I talked about earlier. And we also are very committed to helping to protect Bulgaria’s very rich cultural heritage. The United States is already helping to restore the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Nessebar, and we’ve also increased the size of the Bulgarian Fulbright program for exchanges of students.

But one of the things that we talked about at lunch is the value of tourism and the newly created tourism bureau – or tourism ministry here in Bulgaria, which is an opportunity to really focus on an area that could provide enormous revenue increase, expand the economy, and also strengthen Bulgaria, as well as promote Bulgaria on an international basis.

So there’s a lot of homework to do. We’re particularly going to follow up on the economic front, on the energy front, and we laid out in a communique to everybody a pretty good summary of the new working groups and the new initiatives that we’re going to engage in.

So for me, this has been a very productive visit. I’m glad to have been able to come here, and I look forward to returning sometime in the future, when together we can announce specific progress on some of the plans that we laid today.

So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Foreign Minister, for your welcome. Thank you to the president and the prime minister. Thank you to the people of Bulgaria for their friendship and partnership. And thank you so much for the work that Bulgaria has done to help to deal with international crises from Afghanistan to Iraq to ISIL, and continuing to do in their own neighborhood. We appreciate it very much. It is the mark of a strong and important country when they are as engaged as Bulgaria is today.

Thank you very much.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT STATEMENT ON HIZBALLAH'S ROLE IN BURGAS ATTACK

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENTOF STATE
Bulgarian Announcement on Hizballah's Role in Burgas Attack
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 5, 2013

The United States commends our close friend and NATO ally Bulgaria for its thorough and professional investigation into the July 18, 2012, Burgas terrorist attack.

The finding is clear and unequivocal: Lebanese Hizballah was responsible for this deadly assault on European soil. We condemn Hizballah in the strongest terms for an attack which bears striking similarities to other disrupted plots of the last year. The United States is acting decisively and comprehensively to curtail Hizballah’s destabilizing actions in Europe, Southeast Asia, South America, and the Middle East, and we are prepared to do all within our power to assist the Government of Bulgaria in bringing those responsible for the Burgas attack to justice.

We strongly urge other governments around the world – and particularly our partners in Europe – to take immediate action to crack down on Hizballah. We need to send an unequivocal message to this terrorist group that it can no longer engage in despicable actions with impunity.

F-16'S ENGAGE MIG'S OVER BULGARIA DURING THRACIAN STAR 2012

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
Col. David Walker, 31st Operations Group and Thracian Star 2012 detachment commander, and Capt. Petar Milkov, Bulgarian air force MiG-29 pilot, prepare to fly in an F-16 Fighting Falcon April 19, 2012, at Graf Ignatievo Air Force Base, Bulgaria. More than 500 people are deployed here from the 31st Fighter Wing in support of the month-long coalition training exercise aimed at increasing interoperability between NATO allies. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Katherine Windish)

F-16s, MiGs engage over Bulgarian skies 
by Senior Airman Katherine Windish
31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

4/26/2012 - GRAF IGNATIEVO AIR BASE, Bulgaria (AFNS) -- U.S. pilots from the 555th and 510th Fighter Squadrons based out of Aviano Air Base, Italy, have been given a rare opportunity to train and share experiences with Bulgarian air force MiG-21 and MiG-29 pilots during their deployment here in support of Thracian Star 2012.

Since the start of the training mission on April 18, Bulgarian and American pilots have been flying together and working toward the goal of the exercise: to strengthen partnerships, increase interoperability between NATO allies and maintain a standard of excellence.

Throughout the month-long bilateral training exercise, Aviano F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots will spend more than 60 hours per week flying close air support, basic fighter and air combat maneuvers, tactical intercepts, defensive counter air and large force missions with Bulgarian MiG-21 and MiG-29 pilots.


"We are performing the same mission sets we do at home station, but we are integrating the Bulgarian pilots into the training," said Capt. Bryan Faughn, 555th FS F-16 pilot. "It gives us an opportunity to see how another country's air force works. They are a professional air force just like we are and they take pride in what they do. We are gaining experience while working with an international partner - it's a unique opportunity."

To gain better insight into both the tactics of the pilots and the capabilities of the different aircraft, pilots have gone on ride-along flights in the other country's jets.

Capt. Kirby Sanford, 555th FS F-16 pilot, was the first American pilot to get the opportunity to ride in a MiG.

"It was truly an awesome, once-in-a-lifetime experience," Sanford said about his flight. "It really highlighted the advantages of both aircraft and showcased the mindset, skills and techniques of the Bulgarians."

"Though the MiG is an older aircraft, it is still a very capable aircraft," he continued. "It just goes to show that even an older aircraft can be a formidable adversary with the right pilot."

Bulgarian air force Capt. Petar Milkov, was the first MiG-29 pilot to fly in an F-16 during Thracian Star 2012. The aircraft was piloted by Col. David Walker, 31st Operations Group and Thracian Star detachment commander.

"I was very impressed by the cockpit ergonomics, ease of flight and mission complexity," said Milkov. "This bilateral training with my American colleagues is a great chance to extend our partnership in a professional, cultural and personal manner. I also hope to enrich my personal experience and make new contacts."

SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON SALUTES INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY

International Roma Day
Press Statement Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State Washington, DC
April 8, 2012
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I want to send best wishes to all Roma as they mark International Roma Day. Today we celebrate the history, impact and culture of Romani people. From music and art to science and literature, Romani people have contributed in ways large and small to the fabric of countless societies.

But too often and in too many places, they are forced to live on the margins. They are segregated, beaten, and systematically discriminated against. They are denied access to an education and to jobs. Despite a decade of progress, during this global economic downturn incidents of anti-Roma rhetoric and violence are on the rise.

Romani people are on the frontlines of the struggle for greater human rights and dignity. That is why the United States is working to protect Roma minorities and end discrimination. We are helping improve opportunities for Roma to participate in the political, social, economic, and cultural lives of their communities. Roma everywhere deserve the opportunity to have a better and brighter future. As I said in Bulgaria at a meeting with young Roma professionals, the United States is committed to working with civil society groups and governments to make a real difference in the lives of Roma.

We believe governments have a special responsibility to ensure that members of the Roma community – and all minority communities – have the tools to succeed as productive members of society. So let us continue to forge new partnerships, discover new areas of understanding and respect, and redouble our efforts to address the plight of Roma on behalf of a freer, fairer and more inclusive Europe.