Turkey Backs Mark Rutte for NATO Secretary General Role
Turkey has thrown its support behind outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the position of NATO Secretary General,
By Valerie Bauman
Puget Sound Business Journal
Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev was in Seattle this week on a special stop before a NATO Summit next week in Chicago.
"It's a wonderful city," Plevneliev said. "My first impression about the city isn't actually about the buildings and the beautiful sites, it's about people. There was so (how should I say) positive energy shown. I'm impressed."
Plevneliev met with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and toured the currently under-construction Bullitt Center, The Bullitt Foundation project that is expected to be the "greenest building in the world" once it is complete.
The Bullitt Center's million headquarters is an ecological showcase rising atop Seattle's Capitol Hill. The building is part of the foundation's move toward urban ecology.
"If you look at the size of the building, nothing special," Plevneliev said. "But if you look at the revolutionary and pioneering approach at the Bullitt Center, it deserves for many presidents – not just for one – to come here. For me, as a guy who understands construction, who has been part of big investments in the construction industry in my previous work, I can just congratulate and can just say this is a visionary and a very important project."
The president, who was escorted by a heavy motorcade and the Secret Service, ran for office on a platform that included energy efficiency in buildings. Prior to his presidency, Plevneliev was an engineer who founded several construction companies and was the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works. He was elected president in October of 2011.
His visit to Seattle was focused on international trade and economic development, and he expressed great interest in the region's success as a technology hub because Bulgaria is in the process of building its own tech research park.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
Brazen Bulgarian gangs "terrorise the elderly and rob them over their life savings with increasingly aggressive phone scams nettling millions of euros," according to an AFP story.
The prospect of US President Donald Trump's moving closer to Russia has scrambled the strategy of "balancing East and West" used for decades by countries like Bulgaria, the New York Times says.
Bulgarians have benefited a lot from their EU membership, with incomes rising and Brussels overseeing politicians, according to a New York Times piece.
German businesses prefer to trade with Bulgaria rather than invest into the country, an article on DW Bulgaria's website argues.
The truth about Bulgaria and Moldova's presidential elections is "more complicated" and should not be reduced to pro-Russian candidates winning, the Economist says.
President-elect Rumen Radev "struck a chord with voters by attacking the status quo and stressing issues like national security and migration," AFP agency writes after the presidential vote on Sunday.
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022