site.btaPresident Radev Confers Order of Madara Horseman on Outgoing Italian Ambassador Zarra

On Friday, President Rumen Radev conferred the Order of Madara Horseman, First Class, on outgoing Italian Ambassador Giuseppina Zarra at a ceremony in the Coat of Arms Hall of the Presidency.

The Ambassador is recognized for her contribution to strengthening and advancing bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Italy. 

President Radev thanked Giuseppina Zarra for her significant contribution to the advancement of relations between the two countries. He recalled that last year Bulgaria celebrated 145 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Italy, a country that is a sincere friend, with which Bulgaria share long-standing cultural ties and common values. “Today, our excellent relations are developing with even greater dynamism and diversity,” the President noted. In his words, politics, economy, culture, education, science are areas that the two countries actively maintain and develop. “We especially appreciate our successful partnership in the security and defence sector, and we highly value the fact that Italy has accepted to be a framework nation in terms of the Multinational Battle Group and has been playing a leading role and active presence at the Novo Selo training ground for more than two years,” President Radev said.

The President said that for Bulgaria building connectivity between Italy and Bulgaria is of key importance in all its aspects - transport, energy, digital. “Bulgaria and Italy share common efforts and responsibility for the construction of Pan-European Corridor VIII, which is of strategic importance not only for Europe's prosperity, but also for military mobility and our security,” the head of State said.

He stressed that Friday's ceremony is an expression of the Bulgarian institutions' and society's appreciation for Ambassador Zarra's active role and dedication to strengthening and developing bilateral relations.

Ambassador Zarra said that it was a great honour for her to receive this award at the end of her term as ambassador and it was a sign that through her personal efforts and those of the entire embassy, the Italian institutions had contributed to strengthening the friendly and fraternal ties between the two countries. The diplomat thanked President Radev for his words and for the cordial expression of respect and attention. She also thanked the President, the institutions and all Bulgarian citizens for their support.

The historical relations between our two countries, right back to the time of Ancient Rome, visible in many places here Bulgaria, are evidenced in bilateral relations today. “The strengthening of our relations continues to this day with the strengthening of the Italian community here, with businessmen, with young Italians who choose to move to Bulgaria to study,” Ambassador Zarra said. She stressed that Italy's decision to contribute as a framework country for the Multinational Battle Group in Bulgaria was welcomed with cooperation from Bulgaria. “In this spirit, we must continue to tackle challenges, unthinkable a few years ago, threatening and endangering peace and economic security in our region and the whole EU,” the Ambassador said.

She outlined some of the challenges facing the EU today, such as the creation of a unified European defence, the strengthening of the Balkans as a barrier to malign external influences, the creation of projects such as the  Pan-European Corridor VIII, energy diversification, technological transformation with artificial intelligence, the threat to cyber security, the threats from the new US administration, which is slowing down the growth and competitiveness of EU’s market.