The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has celebrated the Day of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Service with a special event.

"Today we celebrate 143 years of high professionalism and dedication to the national cause of Bulgaria and the aspiration to build friendly relations with the world around us", said the outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs, Teodora Gençovska.

Gençovska expressed her gratitude to the generations of Bulgarian diplomats who devotedly served the motherland under no less difficult conditions.

"For the last seven months, working through parallel crises with North Macedonia, without additional resources, we have relied mostly on the experience and knowledge they inherited.

I can say with undisguised pride that we have done a decent job and I hope we have not disappointed them", she emphasized.

Genočovska thanked the MFA employees for their professionalism, as according to her, they managed to protect Bulgarian interests in the issue with North Macedonia.

"It is no secret that the main challenge the ministry faced since the beginning of my mandate was the issue of North Macedonia.

So I want to start with a special thanks to the team that I relied on all the time.

Relying on the expertise created over decades, together we managed to protect the national interest in extremely complex political conditions", said Gençovska.

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, ministers, MPs, MEPs, former heads of the ministry, representatives of the diplomatic corps in Bulgaria and other guests were invited to the event.