Upon invitation of H.E. Ambassador Constantin-Mihail Grigorie, Her Excellency Ms. Iva Kruleva, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Croatia, visited RACVIAC premises on Monday, December 11, 2023. She was accompanied by Bulgarian Defence Attaché COL Ivan Studenkov.
H.E. Ambassador Kruleva was briefed by Ambassador Grigorie on RACVIAC history to date and its Programme for the following year, 2024. At the centre of the visit was previous cooperation with Bulgaria as a core Member and its potential for the future.
RACVIAC maintains special appreciation for and gratitude to Bulgaria, as it was a Member since its foundation in 2000 until 2009. Bulgaria’s participation was highly acknowledged, as it was not only supporting RACVIAC financially but also by seconding officers to RACVIAC staff and chairing the MAG in 2007. Today Bulgaria, despite not being an official Member of RACVIAC anymore, is actively involved in the work of the C-WMD Network as it is in the process of developing a national strategy.
H.E. Ambassador Grigorie warmly opened the dialogue for Bulgaria in order to consider restoring its membership in RACVIAC underlining the importance of Bulgaria in South East Europe, as a member of the EU and NATO, during times of increasing challenges to security in the region as a whole. He emphasized that presence of Bulgaria in RACVIAC side by side with Members of the Organization would undoubtedly contribute to RACVIAC mission of ensuring security dialogue and cooperation.
Thanking for the proposal to become a Member of RACVIAC, H.E. Ambassador Kruleva reassured about the willingness to invest efforts into taking cooperation between Bulgaria and RACVIAC a step further. Her Excellency underlined the significance of transnational dialogue in the region and expressed highest regard to RACVIAC for providing a platform for cooperation in the region of South East Europe.
