Bulgaria’s President Rossen Plevneliev and sixteen European political leaders called on in an open letter the President-elect of the United States Donald Trump to bolster the transatlantic alliance between the USA and the EU. In their message to President-elect Trump they pointed out that the ongoing destabilization in Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea threaten the peace, security and international order established after the end of the Cold War. The seventeen current and former officials and leaders expressed their concern of possible grand bargain between the USA and Russia which may endanger those historical achievements. Possible lifting of the current sanctions against Russia would be a serious mistake, the officials further said. We are strong together when America is strong, the letter further reads.