In December 2017, Ambassador Elena Poptodorova was elected Vice President of the Atlantic Treaty Association (NATO – Brussels) while serving since April 2017 as Vice President and Director for Euro-Atlantic Affairs at the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria (ACB).

As of April 2020, she leads the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) program at the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria.

From 15 October 2016 until 15 March 2017 she opened and led the Regional Central European Office of AJC in Warsaw.

From August 10, 2010 until May 31, 2016, Ms. Elena Poptodorova served a second term as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United States of America. 

Prior to her second appointment in Washington D.C., as of 2009, Ambassador Poptodorova was Director of the Security Policy Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria 

In 2008 – 2009, the Bulgarian Government appointed her Ambassador-at-Large for the Black Sea Region. 

From February 2002 to October 2008 she served her first term as Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the United States of America, when Bulgaria became member of NATO and the EU. At that time, she started the Bulgaria Caucus on the Hill and the corps of Bulgaria’s Honorary Consuls in the US. 

In that period, she launched the Bulgarian schools’ network throughout the United States.

During her two terms of service amounting to a total of 13 years, she facilitated investment by major US companies in Bulgaria’s IT, energy, agricultural, defense and processing sectors, such as American Standard, Honeywell, Tishmann International, Amgen, Westinghouse, Coca Cola, AES, LM, etc.

She helped negotiate major defense cooperation and intelligence sharing agreements with the US defense and law enforcement agencies.

In 2001, prior to becoming Ambassador to the US, she served as Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Organizations Directorate. 

Earlier in her career (1990-2001) Ms. Poptodorova was elected Member of Parliament in the 7th Constituent Assembly and in the 36th, the 37th and the 38th National Assemblies of the Republic of Bulgaria. She served on the committees of foreign policy, national security, radio and TV, human rights, agriculture. She was the Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian delegation to the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), as well as member of Bulgaria’s permanent delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the Joint Parliamentary Committee ‘Bulgaria-EU’. She also served as Deputy Chair of the Inter-European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (IEPFPD). 

From 1987 to 1990 she was minister-counselor at the Bulgarian Embassy in Rome and Bulgaria’s Consul General to the Republic of San Marino. 

Ambassador E. Poptodorova joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1975 and served from 3rd secretary through minister-counselor through 1990, when she was elected Member of Bulgaria’s National Assembly. Upon leaving Parliament in 2001, she rejoined the Bulgarian diplomatic service.

She retired from civil service in October 2016.

EDUCATION

Ms. Poptodorova earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees (1969 – 1975) at the Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia in English and Italian linguistic and literary studies, after which she attended a post-graduate course in international relations at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia. She specialized at Leeds University in the UK and University of Siena, Italy. 

Ambassador Poptodorova is Doctor Honoris Causa of the Assumption College, Worcester, USA.

BOARD MEMBERSHIPS

She is founding member of a number of Boards of Bulgarian nongovernmental organizations, among which The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, The Centre for Regional and Geopolitical Research, The Bulgarian Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.

She also served as Honorary Member of the Board of the Atlantic Council of the United States and member of the Boards of the Washington-based Executive Council on Diplomacy and of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group.

From 1995 until Oct.2019 Ambassador Poptodorova was member of the Board of Trustees and/or the University Council of the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG). From Oct. 2013 she was the Deputy Chair of the AUBG Board.

In 2010 she became member of the Board of the New York-based American Foundation for Bulgaria.

In 2014 she joined the Advisory Board of the Berlin - based Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, which operates as a transatlantic entity.

As of 2017 she sits on the OPI Board of The RMR Group Inc. in the United States.

In February 2020 she also joined the Board of TA (Travel Centers of America) in the US.

In March 2020 she was invited and joined the Board of the US – Bulgaria Chamber in Washington, D.C.

She engages regularly in interviews, public talks, lectures and town-hall meetings with think-tanks, universities and the media.

AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

2003 - The Gold Medal of Bulgaria’s Atlantic Club for promoting Bulgaria’s membership in NATO;

2003 – Gold Commemorative Medal on the occasion of 100 Years of Bulgarian-US Diplomatic Relations;

2007 - The Gold Medal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for outstanding contribution to Bulgaria’s accession to the EU;

2008 - The Annual Award of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of the United States of America for leadership and outstanding contribution to the empowerment of women;

2008 - Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the US Congress for her outstanding and invaluable service to the community;

2008 - Medal of Honor “For Valor and Merit”, I class, of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Interior, for outstanding contribution to establishing the rule of law in Bulgaria, and the enhancement of the national interest and of national and European security;

2008 - Recognition Award of the Director of the US Secret Service in appreciation of her many contributions in support of the Secret Service mission and selfless commitment to the ideals and principles of law enforcement;

2011 – Distinguished Service Award in appreciation and recognition of exceptional service and support contributing to the advancement of the American University in Bulgaria;

2013 – Nominated by expat organizations in the US and Israel “A Bulgarian of the Year” for her active engagement with the Bulgarian expat communities in the United States;

As of 2002, Ambassador Poptodorova is Honorary Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in recognition of services rendered to the European cause.

She is fluent in English, Italian, French, Russian, Bulgarian (native).