Stara Planina for outgoing Finnish ambassador

BULGARIA

President Georgi Purvanov conferred the Stara Planina, first class, on outgoing Finnish ambassador to Bulgaria Kauko Jämsén. He received the highest Bulgarian state honour for his extraordinary contribution to the development of Bulgarian-Finnish relations and trade.

Trade between the two countries more than tripled over the past four years, with the three biggest Finnish investments in Bulgaria all coming in the past year, Jämsén said. Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union was put in motion in 1999, when Finland held the rotating presidency of the bloc and it was important for Finland that Bulgaria was a strong member of the EU, he said.