Lord Mayor of London - Honorary BBLF Member

Lord Mayor of London Alderman Robert Finch became honorary member of BBLF. He is the first foreigner to be granted the prestigious BBLF distinction despite never having lived in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria's PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha also became Honorary BBLF Member in May 2004.

BBLF Chairman Mr. Maxim Behar was the first to welcome Aldemar Finch at the special dinner in his honour at the British Ambassador's residence in Sofia. Bulgarian Vice-Premier Nikolay Vassilev and Justice Minister Anton Stankov were also present at the event.

It was Aldemar Rober Finch himself who insisted that the Corporation of London should invite Bulgaria and Romania to the Guildhall dinner in the London City in May this year. That was the first large event in Britain to welcome the ten new EU member-states to the European family. Honoured with invitations to the prestigious event were BBLF Chairman Mr. Maxim Behar, Bulgarian Vice-Premier and Economy Minister Ms. Lidia Shouleva, and Finance Minister Milen Velchev.

"I was really excited to see all the candidate countries high-levelled representatives then in London and to be honest Bulgarian and Romanian presence at Guildhall was warmly welcomed by all the guests. Now I am delighted to receive this BBLF award and let me share my belief that soon we'll invite more Bulgarian delegates already as representatives of an EU member state", Finch said at the ceremony.