Bulgaria Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, has lauded the new US-Russia nuclear arms treaty as “an historic event for all of us.”

Mladenov continued that the meeting later Thursday in Prague between US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Central and Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria PM Boyko Borisov, “shows very clearly that the US will not withdraw from the region.”

"I expect the doubts to be dispelled that Washington wants to withdraw from Europe. I am sure that these doubts will be dispelled and that they will demonstrate once again that our partnership is strong. This is important for all countries that recently became members of NATO to be able to continue the transformation of the security sector," Mladenov stated.

Mladenov concluded that “hardly anyone takes seriously that Russia poses a threat to the security of Europe…there are many common security challenges such as the recent terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro, the unstable situation in the Caucasus and unstable regimes in the Middle East who seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction.”