Bulgaria Welcomes 6th US State Secretary Visit

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Sunday visit to Sofia is the sixth visit of a head of the American diplomatic service to Bulgaria.

In February 1990, US Secretary of State James Baker made a trip to Romania and Bulgaria, where he met President Petar Mladenov and opposition representatives.

The second visit was in November 1999 by Madeleine Albright, who prepared the imminent visit of President Bill Clinton.

In May 2003, US State Secretary Colin Powell visited Bulgaria ahead of the invasion of Iraq, in which Bulgaria was part of a US-led coalition.

In April 2006, Hillary Clinton's predecessor Condoleeza Rice arrived to Sofia for an informal meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers of NATO member states.

Rice came to Bulgaria as US Secretary of State for a second time in July 2008, meeting President Georgi Parvanov and PM Sergey Stanishev.

Bulgarian President Parvanov decorated Rice with Bulgaria's highest state distinction - the Stara Planina order first degree - for her role in the 2007 freeing of Bulgarian medics held in a prison in Libya.