{"id":15121,"date":"2026-10-23T22:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T22:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/?p=15121"},"modified":"2026-11-10T23:41:03","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T23:41:03","slug":"tonga-hon-consul-general-calls-on-bulgarian-ambassador-to-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/tonga-hon-consul-general-calls-on-bulgarian-ambassador-to-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Tonga Hon Consul-General calls on Bulgarian Ambassador to Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"
On 22 October 2026, Comendador Anthony Bailey, Honorary Consul-General of His Majesty The King of Tonga to the Portuguese Republic, paid a courtesy call on Her Excellency Mrs Elena Radkova Shekerletova, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Portugal, at the Bulgarian Embassy and Ambassador’s residence in Lisbon.<\/div>\n
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Ambassador Shekerletova assumed her duties in February 2026, having previously served as Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Germany and as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on matters of mutual interest, including Bulgaria’s diplomatic engagement with the Pacific region, international cooperation and opportunities to develop closer relations between Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Tonga.<\/p>\n

Although Bulgaria and Tonga have not yet formally established diplomatic relations, the Bulgarian Government authorised steps towards establishing relations with Tonga and other Pacific island countries in 2001. Bulgaria has subsequently developed diplomatic relations with a number of Pacific nations.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria’s Embassy in Canberra, Australia<\/a> also monitors developments across Oceania, including Tonga, providing a diplomatic channel for engagement with the region. The meeting offered an opportunity to consider closer dialogue between the two countries, particularly through the United Nations and other multilateral institutions.<\/p>\n

Discussions also touched upon Bulgaria’s longstanding relationship with Portugal. The two countries maintain close political, economic and cultural ties as fellow members of the European Union and NATO, strengthened by high-level exchanges, including the official visit of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to Portugal in April 2022.<\/p>\n

The Bulgarian community in Portugal, estimated at approximately 7,000 people in 2022, also contributes to relations between the two countries, particularly through its involvement in business, education, culture and professional life.<\/p>\n

For Comendador Bailey, the courtesy call held particular personal significance, reflecting his longstanding association with Bulgaria dating back to 1988, when he began studying and working in the country. His subsequent involvement in Bulgarian public and international affairs has extended over nearly four decades.<\/p>\n

In recognition of his contribution to strengthening Bulgaria’s international relations, he was awarded the Order of the Madara Horseman, First Class, by President Georgi Parvanov under Presidential Decree of 7 March 2007. The decoration was formally presented at the Bulgarian Embassy in London on 17 September 2007.<\/p>\n

A particularly memorable aspect of the visit was the opportunity to see the Bulgarian Orthodox Chapel of St John of Rila within the Embassy grounds. The chapel was originally situated at the Estoril residence of Queen Giovanna of the Bulgarians (1907\u20132000), widow of King Boris III (reigned 1918\u20131943) and mother of King Simeon II (reigned 1943\u20131946), who later served as Bulgaria’s Prime Minister from 2001 to 2005. Following periods of exile in Egypt and Spain from 1946, Queen Giovanna settled in Estoril in 1962, remaining there until her death in 2000. Her chapel was subsequently transferred to the Embassy and consecrated in 2001.<\/p>\n

The meeting concluded with an exchange of views on opportunities to maintain contact and encourage closer cooperation between Bulgaria and Tonga, reflecting the Consulate-General’s continuing engagement with the diplomatic community accredited to Portugal.<\/p>\n

Further information is available through the Embassy of Bulgaria in Portugal<\/a>, the Embassy of Bulgaria in Canberra<\/a> and the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#Tonga #Bulgaria #Portugal #Diplomacy #PacificRelations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 22 October 2026, Comendador Anthony Bailey, Honorary Consul-General of His Majesty The King of Tonga to the Portuguese Republic, paid a courtesy call on Her Excellency Mrs Elena Radkova Shekerletova, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Portugal, at the Bulgarian Embassy and Ambassador’s residence in Lisbon. Ambassador Shekerletova assumed her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"image_01":15126,"image_02":15125,"image_03":15124,"image_04":15123},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15133,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15121\/revisions\/15133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}