Scheffer receives the highest honour in Bulgaria

Photo: Reuters

As The Echo reported, Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov conferred on outgoing Nato secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer the country's highest honour, the Stara Planina first class, at a ceremony on April 23 2009.

Bulgarians were glad that the country had joined Nato and the country's support for Nato's open-door policy yielded positive results, Purvanov said.

Scheffer is stepping down and will be succeeded by Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen. This was his last scheduled visit to Bulgaria as Nato secretary-general.

Purvanov said that the honour was conferred on Scheffer for his exceptional role in enhancing peace and security on a global scale.

Purvanov said that Bulgaria's good performance as a Nato member was largely due to the support and co-operation of Scheffer.

During his visit, Scheffer also held talks with Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.