Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton

Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton praised Bulgaria’s transition period, law enforcement sector, taxes, partnership in NATO and Roma integration. Shale gas exploration and production was one of the issues under discussion, but Clinton’s visit will not bring cancelation of the moratorium, until it is proven that the method is safe for the environment.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is paying a one-day visit to Bulgaria on Sunday. She held a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, which continued for more than an hour. They discussed bilateral cooperation, situation in North Africa and Middle East and energy security.

Hillary Clinton praised Bulgaria’s transition period, law enforcement sector, taxes, partnership in NATO and Roma integration. Shale gas exploration and production was one of the issues under discussion, but Clinton’s visit will not bring cancelation of the moratorium, until it is proven that the method is safe for the environment.

Hillary Clinton said Bulgaria was making exceptional progress.

Bulgaria’s experience in the transition from communism to democracy, establishment of effective institutions and hard efforts in the past 20 years gives extremely valuable lessons, she said.

I promise the Bulgarian people that the U.S. will always be with you, something we did in the past. We are very impressed by and proud of the exceptional progress your country has made and the strong relations between the Bulgarian and American nations and governments, she added.

Shale gas exploration and production in Bulgaria was under discussion, too. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said the moratorium would remain in force until it is clear that the method is safe for the nature and environment. Clinton pledged cooperation in the energy sector for “affordable prices.”

We will be shoulder to shoulder with the Bulgarian nation and government, when they work to provide energy at affordable prices, which meet your needs. I will send my Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Richard Morningstar next week, who will hold talks at an expert level as to how we can help more to preserve your environment and achieve your energy goals, said Hillary Clinton.

The prime minister highlighted that Bulgaria was seeking diversification in any area and that in the energy production sector diversification was achieved through hydroelectric power plants.

As to energy diversification, I told Ms. Clinton that the construction of the Bulgarian-Romanian intersystem gas connection will start in May and the Bulgarian-Greek one – by the end of the year. And I hope that in March when a joint meeting between the Bulgarian and Turkish governments is due in Ankara the agreement about the Bulgarian-Turkish gas connection will be signed, said Boyko Borisov.

According to him the nature and environment are most important to Bulgaria.
Until we convince the society that there is no risk, we cannot move forward; this is the case with nuclear energy, too, he said.

We consider any project pragmatically – whether it protects the nature, environment and what will happen with all this in the next 15 or 20 years, said the prime minister.

U.S. Secretary of State praised Bulgaria’s achievements in the law enforcement sector.

Out excellent cooperation stopped, recognized and is preventing the traffic of nuclear and other radioactive materials. Our joint investigations against drugs seized over USD 3 billion in the form of illegally acquired property. Our law enforcement cooperation resulted in arrests of hackers making international frauds, she said.

Hillary Clinton spoke also about the economic achievements – a wonderful model not only for Europe, but even abroad for countries which are trying to make the transition from dictatorship to democracy.

The lowest unemployment rate, the lowest taxes, an increase in the international investments, including American ones, social and economic development. All this is a wonderful model not only for Europe, but even abroad for countries which are trying to make the transition from an authoritarian government, from dictatorship to democracy and government of the country by the people.

In the past few years Bulgaria has undertaken several steps to fight with corruption, carry out a judicial reform and maintain rule of law for all its citizens. These are very important steps for each democracy and they will help Bulgaria keep on strengthening its democratic institutions, said the U.S. Secretary of State.

The U.S. Secretary of State and Bulgarian Prime Minister condemned the killing of innocent people in Syria. Hillary Clinton expressed disappointment with the veto Russia and China imposed on the UN resolution condemning the violent crackdown in Syria. She noted that the diplomatic pressure would be stepped up together with the partners outside the UN and the countries that backed up the resolution.

Hillary Clinton assured that the U.S. is committed to the Bulgarian security.

I would like to underline the U.S. commitment to the Bulgarian security; we are allies in NATO. Bulgaria is a very important, productive NATO partner, she said.

There will be a series of joint military exercises between Bulgaria and the U.S. this year. We are seeking ways to enhance the military cooperation and make a thorough review of its condition and where it will go in the future. Bulgaria has proved to be a capable partner we feel deep respect for, she said further.

The Bulgarian troops serving in Afghanistan have deserved reputation of professionalism and bravery. I would like to offer my condolences for the death and self-sacrifice of the Bulgarian army, said Clinton.

According to Hillary Clinton the method of e-government – an excellent means for bringing the state closer to the people – is already available.

The President told me that 2,2 million Bulgarians have Facebook accounts. So the method is already available and its use to improve state government is one of the issues we will discuss at the meeting in Brazil this spring, she said.

Hillary Clinton praised the Bulgarian government for its Roma integration initiative. She is to meet representatives of Roma organizations.

42nd President

42nd President, William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III; August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation. Clinton has been described as a New Democrat. Many of his policies have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance, while on other issues his stance was center-left.

Born and raised in Arkansas, Clinton became both a student leader and a skilled musician. He is an alumnus of Georgetown University where he was Phi Beta Kappa and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to attend the University of Oxford. He is married to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has served as the United States Secretary of State since 2009 and was the Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009. Both Clintons received law degrees from Yale Law School, where they met and began dating. As Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the state’s education system, and served as Chair of the National Governors Association.

Clinton was elected president in 1992, defeating incumbent president George H.W. Bush. As president, Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. He signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement. He implemented Don’t ask, don’t tell, a controversial intermediate step to full gay military integration. After a failed health care reform attempt, Republicans won control of Congress in 1994, for the first time in forty years. Two years later, the re-elected Clinton became the first member of the Democratic Party since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term as president. He successfully passed welfare reform and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, providing health coverage for millions of children. Later, he was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice in a scandal involving a White House intern, but was acquitted by the U.S. Senate and served his complete term of office. The Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus between the years 1998 and 2000, the last three years of Clinton’s presidency.

Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any U.S. president since World War II. Since then, he has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. Based on his philanthropic worldview, Clinton created the William J. Clinton Foundation to promote and address international causes such as prevention of AIDS and global warming. In 2004, he released his autobiography My Life, and was involved in his wife’s and then Barack Obama’s campaigns for president in 2008. In 2009, he was named United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, and after the 2010 earthquake he teamed with George W. Bush to form the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Since leaving office, Clinton has been rated highly in public opinion polls of U.S. presidents.