[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

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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.