    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 47 (Monday, November 29, 1999)]
    [Pages 2440-2441]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a State Dinner Hosted by President Stoyanov in Sofia

    November 22, 1999

        President Stoyanov, Mrs. Stoyanov; Prime Minister and Mrs. Kostov;
    distinguished government leaders; citizens of Bulgaria; our American
    friends. Mr. President, let me begin by thanking you for your warm
    welcome. This is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. You
    gave my wife a memorable day here not so long ago, and our daughter and
    I had a wonderful time today in so many ways, a few of which I would
    like to mention.
        But first let me begin with the time President Stoyanov came to the
    White House. Hillary and I welcomed him there a couple of years ago, and
    I was very interested in this young President of Bulgaria, so I read up
    on him.
        He was only a little younger than me. He looks much younger, but
    he's only a little. [Laughter] He studied the law. His wife studied law.
    He's a father who likes to jog. He likes to read. He grew up listening
    to rock and roll, just like me. [Laughter] The only difference I could
    find from our biographies is that he liked John Lennon, and I liked
    Elvis. [Laughter]
        Earlier today on Nevsky Square I had the opportunity to speak to a
    vast and immensely impressive throng of Bulgarians about the

    [[Page 2441]]

    new partnership we are forging for democracy, peace, and prosperity.
        Mr. President, as you pointed out in your remarks, the relationships
    between our two countries and our mutual admiration goes back quite a
    long while. Perhaps the best symbol of this is the American college
    here, which I learned, as I prepared to come, was actually first opened
    in the year Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States,
    1860.
        During the dark days after World War II, the college was closed. The
    war first brought its closure and then afterward, in the communist era,
    its grounds were turned over to the secret police. But Americans and
    Bulgarians never lost faith that it would open again one day, because we
    never lost faith that Bulgaria would be free again one day.
        A few years after the school reopened, our Ambassador at the time,
    Ambassador Bohlen, took a trip to the famous Rila Monastery, and right
    before she left, the abbot came up to her and said, ``I have a secret to
    show you.'' They walked to a basement, and there in a hidden place was
    the entire library of the American college, preserved for 50 years by
    the same monastery that helped to preserve Bulgarian language and
    culture for 500 years.
        Just as those books were hidden deep in the heart of Bulgaria for
    half a century, there was an energy and creativity hidden deep in the
    heart of Bulgarians through all those same years. More than 100 years
    before the Renaissance began, Bulgarian thinkers and artists were
    already shaping the world.
        Now the energies and creativities of the Bulgarian people have been
    liberated again, and from now on, you will always be masters of your
    destiny, neither vassals nor victims to anyone. Now you're on a road
    that is often hard but with a very happy destination. I believe it will
    lead you to prosperity, to peace, to security, to being part of a Europe
    that is whole and free.
        Tonight I come here again to reaffirm the friendship and the
    partnership of the United States, our gratitude to you for being a
    symbol of freedom and determination. I come to offer a toast of respect
    and thanks.
        I toast Bulgaria, its President, and its leaders for casting your
    lot with freedom in spite of the pain of transition, for standing
    strongly with humanity in reversing ethnic cleansing, in spite of the
    sacrifices imposed, and having the courage to follow your dreams and the
    vision to achieve them. May Americans and Bulgarians always be friends
    and partners.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:10 p.m. in the Ballroom at the Kempinski
    Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to President Stoyanov's wife,
    Antonina; Prime Minister Ivan Kostov and his wife, Helena; and former
    U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria Avis T. Bohlen. The transcript released by
    the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of President
    Stoyanov.