June 1, 1996

Petar Stoyanov won the primary Presidential elections of the United Democratic Forces against the incumbent President Dr. Zhelyu Zhelev with 66%. He was the first Presidential candidate who focused his campaign on Bulgaria`s NATO and EU membership.

November 3, 1996

Was elected as a UDF candidate President of the Republic of Bulgaria by 2,502,517 votes, or 59.73%.

January 3, 1997

Officially inaugurated as President of the Republic of Bulgaria

January 28, 1997

At the height of the political crisis, bound by the  Constitution, he gave the mandate to the BSP and in the name of civic peace in the country publicly urged them not to use it.

February 4, 1997, 11:50 am

The BSP leader Georgi Parvanov and the Prime Minister nominee Nikolay Dobrev submitted the new cabinet list proposed by BSP to President Petar Stoyanov who refused to submit it for approval to the National Assembly.

February 4, 1997, 3:05 pm

February 4, 1997, 03:05 pm - The President urgently convened the Consultative National Security Council where under the pressure of President Petar Stoyanov and the other political forces the BSP gave up the mandate to form a new government. Thus the worst political crisis during the Bulgarian transition period was resolved.

February 12, 1997

Appointed a caretaker cabinet headed by Stefan Sofiyanski and scheduled new parliamentary elections.

February 20, 1997

Visited Poland and agreed with his counterpart President Kwasnievski on the immediate import of grain, thus resolving the grain crisis in Bulgaria.

February 13, 1997

Voiced officially for the first time Bulgaria’s aspiration to join NATO at the Summit Conference of the defense ministers of NATO member countries in Brussels.

July 9, 1997

Confirmed officially Bulgaria’s membership application at the NATO summit in Madrid. First informal meeting of President Stoyanov with US President Bill Clinton.

1997

Won the “Leader of New Europe” Annual Prize for outstanding achievements in creating Bulgaria’s new image in the world.

1998

Received the Award of the American Bar Association and the “Courage to Care” Award of the influential Anti defamation League.

1999

Strongly supported the position of the EU and NATO against the aggressive policy of ethnic cleansing, carried out by Milosevic in Former Yugoslavia. His unconditional support to the NATO-launched military operation against the Milosevic regime was disapproved by part of the Bulgarian society. Led by its leader Georgi Parvanov, the Bulgarian Socialist Party held a rally against this policy. 

1999

Awarded the “Temida” Annual Prize in Moscow by the Association of Russian Lawyers.

October 22, 1998

Invited by President Bill Clinton, along with the British PM Tony Blair and the EC President Romano Prodi to speak in front of the academic community of the New York University about the new global challenges. In a speech, broadcast by all big TV networks Petar Stoyanov supported “the new civilizational choice” of Bulgaria.

November 21-23, 1999

Visit of U.S. President Bill Clinton to Bulgaria. It was the first visit of an American President to this country, which marked a breakthrough in Bulgaria’s new Euro-Atlantic orientation and exerted a strong impact on the country’s accession to the EU and NATO.

November 18, 2001

Lost the presidential runoff to the BSP leader Georgi Parvanov.

2000

Received the Annual Award of the Crans Montana World Economic Forum  for his contribution to the development of democracy and free market economy.

2000

Elected member of the Political Consultative Council of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva.

2000

Elected member of the Advisory Board of the World Leader Project. 

During Petar Stoyanov’s mandate, Bulgaria started active negotiations with the European Union for accession, ratified the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the  Protection of National Minorities and was elected a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council.