during the official welcoming ceremony in Sofia.
Photo by Yana Moyseeva
A cannon salute and the whirr of helicopters overhead greeted visiting United States president George Bush during his first official ceremony in Bulgaria, when he greeted dignitaries and laid a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
The early morning ceremony took place at the monument, near the city’s emblematic Alexander Nevski Cathedral. As a crowd of senior state officials awaited Bush, the sound of the helicopters blended with that of the cathedral bells.
The ceremony was hosted by Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov, and attended by Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ivailo Kalfin, Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov, General Nikola Kolev, the head of Purvanov’s office, Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski, Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov and Elena Poptodorova, Bulgaria’s ambassador to the US. Within the ring of tight security, a crowd of spectators waved Bulgarian and US flags.
The two heads of state were accompanied on their arrival at the ceremony by their wives, Bulgarian first lady Zorka Purvanova and her US counterpart, Laura Bush.
Bush and Purvanov stood together for the playing of the two countries’ national anthems, and Bush greeted the Bulgarian presidential guard of honour with a brief formal greeting in the Bulgarian language.
After laying flowers at the monument, Bush greeted the crowd, shaking hands with spectators. In contrast to the rapturous welcome he received the previous day in the Albanian capital city of Tirana, Bush was received by the Bulgarian crowd in a style that was warm and respectful, but not euphoric.
As part of the early morning events, Bush was also scheduled to have a brief conversation with Bulgarian troops who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Later in the day, he was due to go to the Cabinet office to meet Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, then to attend a news conference, a lunch at Sofia’s National History Museum, and to meet students at the city campus of the American University in Bulgaria.
Bush is due to depart Bulgaria at the end of the day on June 11, closing off his European tour and returning to the US.
