US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice will pay a short visit to Bulgaria at the end of July, during a scheduled European tour, mediapool.bg reported on July 1.

Rice is expected to stop over for several hours, the website said, quoting unnamed sources in Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry. It would be the second time she visits Bulgaria on her own, rather than accompanying president George W Bush, having already done so in April 2006.

Talks in Sofia are expected to focus on the same topics discussed by Bush and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev in Washington last month, including energy, bilateral co-operation and peacekeeping missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rice will collect Bulgaria's highest civilian distinction, the Stara Planina order, which she was awarded last year for her role in freeing the Bulgarian medics detained in Libya.