Video: Secretary Clinton's Remarks With Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov

Remarks With Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov After Their Meeting

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

October 5, 2010

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SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, good afternoon and it’s a great pleasure for me to welcome the foreign minister of Bulgaria. Bulgaria is not only a NATO ally and a member of the European Union, but a close partner on a range of – on the important challenges and opportunities that we face together. And I have been impressed in my work with the foreign minister to just observe how – what a comprehensive understanding he has on behalf of his government as we sort out some of the very difficult threats, challenges, and opportunities that we face together.

So, Foreign Minister, welcome.

FOREIGN MINISTER MLADENOV: Thank you, Madam Secretary. Hello from me as well, and it’s – I’m very happy to be here at the State Department. This is not our first opportunity to talk. I hope that today will cover the full range of our partnership, both in terms of our domestic agenda in Bulgaria for which we received full support from the U.S. Administration on judicial reform, fight against crime and corruption, and a number of other issues, but also to talk about our partnership in the Balkans where we have a lot of unfinished business to do. And the work that our brave men and women are doing in Afghanistan, a mission that is vital to the security not just to our two countries.

And I would like to finish with a more personal note by thanking Secretary Clinton for your excellent work in pushing through the Membership Action Plan for Bosnia, something that we worked very closely with in Tallinn, and I think it opens up great opportunities for the rest of the region.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much.