Kenneth Merten is no longer the ambassador of the United States of America to Bulgaria. H. Martin McDowell, a career diplomat in the US Foreign Service, becomes acting ambassador, reports Nova TV.
Merten has submitted a resignation, which was accepted by US President Donald Trump. “It is common practice when a new administration in the US takes office that all acting ambassadors submit a letter offering their resignation. The President has accepted the resignation of Ambassador Kenneth Merten, thanking him for his long and dedicated service to the United States,” the embassy said in a statement posted on the mission’s website.
Prior to arriving in Sofia in September 2024 as the mission’s deputy chief of staff, McDowell served as director of the Bureau of South and Central Europe (EUR/SCE) at the U.S. Department of State and deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, Moldova. Martin McDowell’s diplomatic career includes overseas assignments at U.S. Embassies in Slovakia, El Salvador, Moldova (2004-2007), and Slovenia. At the State Department in Washington, he served as deputy director in the Bureau of Central European Affairs, special assistant for Europe in the Office of the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, and desk officer for Norway and Sweden.
McDowell received a master's degree from Alabama State University in 1996 and a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in 2010. He was born and raised in Alabama, is married, and has two daughters.