John Beyrle

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U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle

Ambassador Beyrle and Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, 2005

Ambassador Beyrle flew as a passenger on an F-16 during a joint Bulgarian-American training mission at Graf Ignatiev Airbase, 2006

John R. Beyrle (born February 11, 1954), a career foreign service officer and specialist in Russian and Eastern European affairs, became Ambassador of the United States to Bulgaria on September 8, 2005. On May 13, 2008, he was nominated to be the next United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation.

[edit] Biography

Beyrle was born on February 11, 1954 in Muskegon, Michigan. His father, Joseph Beyrle, was a decorated World War II Veteran, who was the only soldier in World War II to serve in both the U.S. Army and the Soviet Army. He received his bachelor's degree from Grand Valley State University, and an MS Degree from the National War College.

Following graduation from the university, he served as a Russian-speaking exhibit guide at several of the major exhibits held in the Soviet Union under a program of exchanges organized by the United States Information Agency.

He joined the State Department in 1983, served his first tour as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow (1983-1985), and later was Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow (2003-2005). His other overseas assignments included political officer in Bulgaria (1985-1987), Counselor for political and economic affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Prague; and member of the U.S. delegation to the Conventional Forces in Europe negotiations in Vienna.

His Washington assignments included Acting Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States; Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council (1993-1995); staff officer to Secretaries of State George Shultz and James Baker; and foreign policy adviser to U.S. Senator Paul Simon (politician).

During his term as ambassador, Bulgaria signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States allowing U.S. soldiers to train at Bulgarian bases (see article on Bulgarian-American relations). He also oversaw the end of U.S. assistance to Bulgaria from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and made several public speeches urging the Bulgarian Government to step up its fight against organized crime and corruption. In 2007 he made a joint tour of several U.S. cities with Bulgarian Ambassador to the United States Elena Poptodorova, to encourage more American businesses to invest in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian press has been generally very favorable toward Ambassador Beyrle, due in large part to his ability to speak and give interviews in Bulgarian. The daily newspaper Standart commented: "for the first time he explained in fluent Bulgarian why the United States is concerned about organized crime and corruption in Bulgaria."^[1]

In February 2008 the White House nominated Nancy McEldowney to succeed him as ambassador to Bulgaria^[2].