Romania opened on Friday a new honorary consulate in Bulgaria, specifically in the Danube city of Ruse, in a move that reflects 'the sincere desire and interest of the Romanian state to build, expand and further enrich the country's already very good relations with Bulgaria,' Romanian ambassador in Sofia Brandusa Predescu told AGERPRES in an exclusive statement.

This is Romania's fourth honorary consulate in Bulgaria after those in Burgas, Silistra and Plovdiv, the latter having been inaugurated last year. 'This new honorary consulate, which is being opened at the proposal of the Romanian Embassy in Sofia, represents the unequivocal expression of the desire and sincere interest of the Romanian state to build, expand and further enrich Romania's already very good relations with Bulgaria. It is a diplomatic instrument we wish to put to use for expanding the local network of contacts in the business community, academic circles and with the Bulgarian society, in the interest of promoting relations and facilitating contacts with Romanians and all these categories,' the Romanian ambassador in Sofia declared.

Board of Directors Chair of the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce Victor Gugushev, who is also a senior partner in a law firm, with experience in cross-border legal consulting, corporate law and international mergers and acquisitions, was appointed honorary consul, Bulgarian news agency BTA reports.

The honorary consulate will cover the regions of Ruse, Pleven and Veliko Tarnovo.

'The choice of Ruse as the location of the new consulate is symbolic in many ways,' said Brandusa Predescu. 'We opted for this headquarters in Ruse because here, more than anywhere else in Bulgaria, our Romanian and Bulgarian history is harmoniously intertwined - we have a present that unites us, we have yet another instrument whereby to cooperate extraordinarily well as a diplomatic mission through the Bulgarian-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce based in Ruse, and, last but not least, Ruse is the city that provides us a perspective towards a future in which our countries will be even more connected through the bridge that will be built at some point on the Giurgiu-Ruse site, as decided by the Romanian and Bulgarian governments; Ruse is also home to the Danubius Euroregion - an entity that has been operating for 23 years now for cross-border cooperation, which all proves that Romanians and Bulgarians are working together under the same flag of our united Europe,' the Romanian ambassador in Sofia said.

'I would like to express my special thanks, on behalf of the Romanian Government and the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Bulgarian Government and the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for accepting our proposal, in token of the extremely intense and friendly cooperation between our institutions,' concluded Brandusa Predescu.

Apart from the Romanian ambassador in Sofia and honorary consul Victor Gugusev, also attending the opening ceremony were ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria in Bucharest Radko Vlaykov, Ruse mayor Pencho Milkov, the Regional Governor of Ruse, Dragomir Draganov, the executive director of the Danubius Euroregion Association, Liliana Gancheva, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and the University of Ruse, business people. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Dana Purgaru; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)