Dilma Rousseff to Visit Father's Homeland Bulgaria in 2011

Politics » DIPLOMACY | December 30, 2010, Thursday // 14:41
Bulgaria: Dilma Rousseff to Visit Father's Homeland Bulgaria in 2011 Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hands over power on January 1 to his elected successor and former cabinet chief Dilma Rousseff. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Dilma Rousseff has confirmed she will keep her promise to visit her father's homeland Bulgaria by the end of 2011, according to reports.

The newly elected Brazilian president has sent an official letter to the mayor of the town of Gabrovo, saying she accepts his invitation to visit the hometown of her father, EFE agency reported.

Bulgaria's prime minister, who is in Brazil to attend the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff as the country's new president on Saturday, is expected to be the first to meet her two days earlier.

Brazilian observers have commented that this is a great honor for the Bulgarian delegation, a special gesture by Dilma Rousseff to show respect for the homeland of her father.

Borisov's meeting with Dilma Rousseff was first scheduled for January 1, but the Brazilian new president reportedly insisted that she meet Borisov on Thursday, making him one of the few world leaders who will have the chance to confer with her in one week.

The meeting will also be attended by Brazil's future foreign minister Antonio Patriota and Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov, reports say.

The Bulgarian prime minister will present Dilma Rousseff with gifts from Bulgaria and a special message from the European Union President Herman van Rompuy.

Dilma Rousseff won a landslide Bulgarian vote even before being elected president of Brazil – the country was gripped by a "Dilma fever" because of her Bulgarian roots.

Bulgarian media continue to shower a round-the-clock attention on Ms Rousseff, highlighting primarily the fact that she is a Bulgarian descendent.

The citizens of Gabrovo, a hard-luck but endearing Bulgarian town at the foot of the central Balkans, where the father of Brazil newly elected president Dilma Rousseff was born, are more than happy to celebrate their newfound notoriety across the Atlantic.

Dilma Rousseff's father, Peter Rousev, was born in 1900 in the town of Gabrovo, but left Bulgaria for both economic and political reasons (he was a communist), looking for a better job and a brighter future.

A century later the small town in central Bulgaria has been caught up in the excitement of the presidential victory in far-away Brazil and hopes Dilma Rousseff will visit Gabrovo as President of one of the world's greatest nations and recover her roots.

True to their inventive and funny nature, the citizens of Gabrovo are already planning how to profit from Rousseff's link to the town, saying Brazilian investors may learn a lot from them about crisis management.

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Tags: Brazilian, Brazil, Dilma, Panagyurishte Gold Treasure, Dilma Rousseff, Rousseff, Boyko Borisov, Borisov, Nikolay Mladenov, Brazil, president, inauguration, Brazilian President, Lula, Simeon Djankov, commercial flight, Bulgaria, Gabrovo

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