„The future ahead of Bulgaria is bright! This future, I hope very soon, will improve with Bulgaria's accession to Schengen and the Eurozone. This was said by the US ambassador to Bulgaria, Kenneth Marten, in a speech dedicated to 75 years since the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, 20 years of membership in NATO and 33 years of the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria.
In his speech, he recalled the history of the creation of NATO. “75 years ago – on April 4, 1949, at a meeting in Washington, the leaders of 12 countries together gave a solemn vow to defend each other and defend common values. Today, this oath was reaffirmed by 39 leaders.
On March 29, another important milestone was marked, 20 years since Bulgaria's accession to NATO. This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the establishment of the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria guarantees the security of NATO's eastern flank and the strategically important Black Sea region, noted Ambassador Marten. He highlighted the fact that Bulgaria has contributed to increasing NATO's general readiness, as well as to key Alliance missions such as those in Kosovo and Iraq.
„The main purpose of NATO – defense and deterrence is as important now as it was years ago when the Alliance was created. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call. Freedom and democracy should not be taken for granted and the threats are real,”, the US ambassador to Bulgaria is categorical.
He did not fail to pay special attention to the membership of the Alliance of Finland and Sweden. They decided to join NATO because of the umbrella that the Alliance provides. They made their choice based on Art. 5, namely: an attack on one country means an attack on all.
„I am proud that the USA is a partner and collaborator of Bulgaria in ensuring a more democratic future,” said Ambassador Marten. He also noted the good bilateral economic relations. There is bilateral trade worth more than 2 billion USD, tens of thousands of jobs created by American companies, more than 100,000 Bulgarian students traveling to the US on the summer program since 2000. Over 260 million USD have been provided by the USA in the last 6 years for the modernization of the military units of Bulgaria.
Regarding the future, the most important moment in it is the upcoming summit in July in Washington. The main theme will be “To protect our future”. NATO is purposefully adapting to face the threats of the 21st century – from hybrid warfare, disinformation and malicious cyber activity to climate change. “When our leaders gather in Washington, they will talk about how we can prepare for these new threats, and also how to respond quickly and together when crisis events occur,” Ambassador Merten said. “Cyber security is among the most pressing challenges. There are numerous alerts about security breaches online, and it's scary. NATO is modernizing its capacity to adapt to new challenges, he added.