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Meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Rumiana Jeleva with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 24 November 2009 On 23 November 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Rumiana Jeleva had a meeting in Washington D.C. with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A number of issues were discussed, notably Bulgaria’s role as a factor of stability in South-Eastern Europe; the Black Sea region; energy security and diversification; the cooperation between Bulgaria and the USA in the security sphere, including the joint efforts of the two countries in Afghanistan; the Transatlantic agenda; Bulgaria’s accession to the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP), etc. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton qualified Bulgaria as a valuable ally and expressed satisfaction with the level of bilateral relations attained. The head of US diplomacy commented on the active dialogue between the new Bulgarian government and President Barack Obama’s administration in the light of the recent visits of high-ranking Bulgarian officials to the USA. The Secretary of State declared her support for further intensification of the bilateral and multilateral cooperation, she extended thanks for the Bulgarian contribution in Afghanistan and stressed that she welcomed Bulgaria’s efforts to eradicate corruption, to seek the factors responsible for it and to put an end to the impunity of high-ranking officials. Secretary of State Clinton gave a high assessment of the energetic efforts of the Bulgarian government and of the resolute fight undertaken by it against corruption. Minister Jeleva extended thanks for the opportunity to meet with her US colleague and reiterated Bulgaria’s readiness to work together with the USA on urgent matters of mutual interest, including energy security and diversification. Mrs. Hillary Clinton congratulated Dr. Jeleva on the efforts made to attain greater transparency in the energy sector. The ministers supported the Southern Energy Corridor and declared themselves against the monopoly in the energy sector. Shared principles were reiterated, notably on energy independence, diversification, transparency in the deals with energy carriers and access to the energy infrastructure. Dr. Jeleva stressed the key role of the transit countries on the global energy map, thus suggesting a more active involvement of Bulgaria in the process of guaranteeing uninterrupted energy supplies to the Old Continent. Ambassador Richard Morningstar, Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, also participated in the meeting. The inclusion of Bulgarian in the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) was among the topics discussed between Dr. Jeleva and Mrs. Clinton. The Bulgarian minister provided information about the country’s preparations for inclusion in the VWP and shared her expectations that the present US administration would continue to support Bulgaria in this process. Minister Jeleva commented that Bulgaria does not constitute an immigration threat – or any other threat – to the USA, and in this sense she said that she expected to witness understanding on this issue on the part of the representatives of the US Congress with whom she is due to have talks. Visas are the most sensitive issue in the bilateral dialogue from the perspective of the Bulgarian public, Minister Jeleva said, adding that the issue remains an invariable element in the EU-US dialogue as well. Immediately upon her arrival at the Department of State, Minister Jeleva signed the Guest Book of the US foreign policy institution, and afterwards both she and the US Secretary of State made brief comments before the media.

A video of the press conference can be seen here.