The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria organized an International conference on the topic “The Outlook of the Bulgarian-American Relations”. The Conference commemorated the 100th Anniversary of the establishment of Bulgarian-American relations. It took place at the Sheraton Sofia Hotel on 19-20th of September 2003 – the exact date, on which a century ago Ambassador John Jackson presented diplomatic credentials to Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria.

The Anniversary celebration started on 19th of May 2003 with US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit to Bulgaria. Secretary Powell conveyed President Bush’s comments that ‘Americans have always considered the Bulgarian people to be our friends, and we will be proud to call you our allies’.

The Conference focused on joint perspectives for economic growth, peace and security, as well as their greater implications for the Atlantic community. More specifically the Conference discussed the Trans-Atlantic link in the context of the Euro-American relations and the approaching full membership of Bulgaria in NATO.

In the framework of the Conference different topics were discussed, such as: The historical evolution of US-Bulgarian relations; Building new relationships between free democratic states-political process after 1989; Enhanced security and defense cooperation of the two NATO allies; the Economic dimension of new Bulgarian-US relations and the way ahead and Science and cultural links between two great nations.