• Ivo Muskurov became Bulgaria’s Consul General in Los Angeles
• Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom H. E. Mr. Luchezar Matev presented his credentials
• Bulgaria will have a new Honorary Consul in the German Federal State of Bremen
• Bulgarian Ambassador to France H. E. Mrs. Irina Bokova presented her credentials
• Celebration of the Centennial of the Birth of Elias Canetti was organized by Bulgarian Embassy in Berlin
• H. E. Academician Blagovest Sendov conferred Bulgarian Red Cross awards on Japanese children
• Bulgaria’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe Presented his Credentials
• Bulgaria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva presented his Credentials
• General Miho Mihov is Bulgaria’s new Ambassador to Macedonia

July 20, 2005, is the National Day of the Arab Republic of Egypt. On this occasion the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Mrs. Heba Elmarassi hosted a reception at the diplomatic mission. It was attended by diplomats, prominent public figures and friends of the ancient culture of Egypt. The guests had the chance to sample the wonderful wines and enjoy the traditional Egyptian cuisine.

H.E. Mrs. Heba Elmarassi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Mr. Mohamed Raslan, Deputy Chief of Mission

On July 13, 2005 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Hungary H.E. Dr. Bela Kolozsi hosted a reception on the occasion of his final departure from the country. Representatives of the diplomatic, political, cultural, business and artistic circles came to pay respects to H.E. Ambassador Kolozsi.

H.E. Dr. Bela Kolozsi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Hungary, Mr. Bela Gardos, consul, and Mr. Gyorgy Arato, director of the Hungarian Cultural Institute

On July 14, 1789, the French Revolution swept away the symbol of Absolutism in France – the Bastille, in the name of freedom. National freedom, social freedom, freedom of interests, freedom of conviction, of speech, of spirit. Everyone fought for these freedoms, the whole people rose. The Republic was established. This event changed not only the history of France but of the whole world.

July 14 – the National Day of the French Republic this year again brought together numerous guests in the garden of the residence of the French Embassy in Sofia. H.E. Mr. Yves Saint-Geours, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic, welcomed ambassadors, MPs, journalists and cultural figures. Most of them – francophones, bearing in their hearts the motto Momoro “Liberty, equality, fraternity”.

H.E. Mr. Yves Saint-Geours welcomed many prominent guests among whom Mrs. Meglena Kuneva, Minister of European Affairs

On July 21, H.E. Mr. Philippe Beke, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium, and his wife, hosted a reception at the Embassy residence on the occasion of the country’s National Day. The date celebrates the rising to the throne of the first King of Belgium Leopold I in 1831.

H.E. Mr. Philippe Beke and his wife

On July 25, H.E. Mr. Philippe Beke, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium, and his wife Mrs. Catherine Wyckaert, hosted a formal dinner at their residence on the occasion of the final departure from the country of H.E. Baroness Henriette Van Lynden, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On August 17, the Austrian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Karl Diem hosted a farewell dinner on the occasion of the departure of the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Austria H.E. Mr. Radi Naidenov, who until recently was head of the cabinet of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

The dinner was attended by the former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy and the Minister of European Affairs Meglena Kuneva. H.E. Baroness Henriette Van Lynden, former Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, also came to honor the event before finally departing from the country.

August 1, 2005

To
Mrs. Juliana Tomova
Editor-in-Chief
Bulgarian Diplomatic Review magazine

Dear Mrs. Tomova,
Hereby I would like to inform you that my mandate as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Afghanistan to the Republic of Bulgaria has come to an end and I am leaving the country. In this connection, I seize the opportunity to express my deepest gratitude for the cooperation and the mutual respect which existed between us during the years of my work in Bulgaria, which I believe has contributed to the development of the relations between our two countries and peoples.

I hope that this good cooperation as well as our wonderful personal relations will continue just as I believe that the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Afghanistan will develop in the upward trend in the future. I wish you a lot of health, happiness and successes!

Mohammad Fazel Saifi