120th Anniversary of the Bulgarian Meteorological Service and
150th Anniversary of Meteorological Observations in Bulgaria

A ceremony marking the 120th anniversary of the Bulgarian Meteorological Service and 150 years of meteorological observations in Bulgaria was held on 8 November 2010 in Sofia under the patronage of the Minister of Education, Youth and Science, Mr Sergei Ignatov. Among the official guests were: Ms Ekaterina Mihajlova, Vice-President of Bulgarian National Assembly, Ms Nona Karadjova, Minister of Environment and Water, Mr Fritz Neuwirth, President of European Meteorological Society, Directors of National Meteorological Services of Austria, Russian Federation, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. The special guest of honor, Mr Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of WMO, adressed the ceremony with a statement on this occasion.

(From left to right) Ms Ekaterina Mihajlova, Vice-President of Bulgarian National Assembly; Mr Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of WMO; Ms Nona Karadjova, Minister of Environment and Water; Mr Fritz Neuwirth, President of European Meteorolocal Society

On the occasion of the 120th anniversary Mr Jarraud expressed his appreciation to the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH) for its exemplary collaboration with WMO and the international meteorological community. Mr Jarraud awarded NIMH with a special WMO certificate. Dr Georgi Kortchev, Director-General of NIMH, in receiving this certificate, expressed the deep gratitude of NIMH to WMO for the support and assistance throughout the years.

The ceremony continued at the premises of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, Sofia. The official guests were invited to plant a tree to commemorate the auspicious occasion. After that, the guests visited the telecommunication centre, which serves as WMO Regional Telecommunication Hub (RTH), the meteorological and hydrological forecasting divisions, and the training centre.

During his visit to Bulgaria, the Secretary-General delivered a lecture on the Global Framework for Climate Services at the Jubilee Scientific Session held on 9 November at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Mr Jarraud had meetings with Ms Nona Karadjova, Minister of Environment and Water, and Mr Sergei Ignatov, Minister of Education, Youth and Science. Both sides expressed appreciation to the achievemnts of NIMH in providing data and information services on weather, water, climate and environment in Bulgaria. WMO and Bulgaria will continue their fruitful cooperation aimed at further improvement of the meteorological, hydrological and climatological services with expected high socio-economic benefits.