The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Bulgaria on Monday, 30th May 2011.

In Sofia, the Secretary General met with President Georgi Parvanov, in order to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Alliance’s ISAF operation in Afghanistan and Operation Unified Protector in Libya.

The Secretary General thanked Bulgaria for the valuable contributions to NATO’s operations. In Varna, the Secretary General met with Prime Minister Boyko Borrisov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Mladenov and with the Speaker of Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva and addressed the plenary session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

In his speech, the Secretary General noted that NATO will remain an effective alliance as long as member nations maintain their firm commitments – politically, financially and through their capacities and that parliamentarians have a unique responsibility int his regard. Speaking about the Balkans, the Secretary General said that the arrest of the indicted former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic offers a chance for justice to be done and for the entire Balkan region to move closer to Euro-Atlantic integration.

“This sends a very clear message that war crimes will eventually be punished. It has also removed a stumbling block on Serbia's road towards the EU and also on the road towards NATO. I would like to see a strengthened relationship between Serbia and NATO”, the Secretary General said.