Bulgaria

**Bulgaria**, officially the **Republic of Bulgaria**, is a state in Europe bordering Romania, Serbia, Greece and Turkey and the Black Sea in the east.

## History

### Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century

Between 1912 and 1918, Bulgaria became involved in three consecutive conflicts—two Balkan Wars and World War I. After a disastrous defeat in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria again found itself fighting on the losing side as a result of its alliance with the Central Powers in World War I. The political unrest resulting from these losses led to the establishment of a royal authoritarian dictatorship by Tsar Boris III (1918–1943). Bulgaria entered World War II in 1941 as a member of the Axis but declined to participate in Operation Barbarossa.
The left-wing uprising of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of monarchic rule, but it was not until 1946 that a single-party people's republic was established. It became a part of the Soviet sphere of influence under the leadership of Georgi Dimitrov (1946–1949), who laid the foundations for a rapidly industrializing Stalinist state which was also highly repressive with thousands of dissidents executed.

By the 1980s both national and per capita GDP quadrupled, but the economy remained prone to debt spikes, the most severe taking place in 1960, 1977 and 1980. The Soviet-style planned economy saw some market-oriented policies emerging on an experimental level under Todor Zhivkov (1954–1989). In an attempt to erase the identity of the ethnic Turk minority, an assimilation campaign was launched in 1984 which included closing mosques and forcing ethnic Turks to adopt Slavic names.

Under the influence of the collapsing of the Eastern Bloc, on 10 November 1989 the Communist Party gave up its political monopoly, Zhivkov resigned, and Bulgaria embarked on a transition to a parliamentary democracy. The first free elections in June 1990 were won by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP, the freshly renamed Communist Party). A new constitution that provided for a relatively weak elected President and for a Prime Minister accountable to the legislature was adopted in July 1991.

A 1997 reform package restored economic growth, but living standards continued to suffer. After 2001 economic, political and geopolitical conditions improved greatly, and Bulgaria achieved high Human Development status. It became a member of NATO in 2004 and participated in the war in Afghanistan. After several years of reforms, it joined the European Union in 2007 despite continued concerns about government corruption.

## Government and Politics

Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy in which the most powerful executive position is that of Prime Minister. Political parties gather in the National Assembly, which consists of 240 deputies elected to four-year terms by direct popular vote. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers, declare war, deploy troops abroad, and ratify international treaties and agreements. The president serves as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the authority to return a bill for further debate, although the parliament can override the presidential veto by a simple majority vote
of all members of parliament.

### Administrative Divisions

Bulgaria is divided into 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province, Sofia-Grad. The provinces are further subdivided into 264 municipalities, each of which are run by mayors who are elected for four-year terms by municipal councils.

### Foreign Relations

Bulgaria was among the founding nations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 1975. It joined NATO on 29 March 2004, signed the European Union Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005, and became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007. Bulgaria's relationship with its neighbours since 1990 has generally been good. The country also plays an important role in promoting regional security. Bulgaria maintains strong relations with EU members, the United States and Russia, and continues to improve its traditionally good ties with China and Vietnam.

By the mid-2020s, Bulgaria felt torn between its political commitments to Western Europe and its economic ties to the Eurasians. The collapse of the euro in 2025 caused many Bulgarians to argue that **Bulgaria**, along with Greece, Serbia, Albania, Romania and Turkey, should join both the Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Pact.

## Economy

Russian energy giant Gazprom completed a new gas pipeline through Turkey in the late 2010s, making Bulgaria and neighboring Greece a hub for the export of Russian gas to southern and central Europe. Chinese automobile companies constructed car factories in Bulgaria for the production of models specifically designed for export to the European market.

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, German giant Siemens and China Railways jointly financed and constructed HSR system through the Balkans that passed through Bulgaria. The HSR line connected the European HSR system to the Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System and promoted two way trade and travel. This made Bulgaria an important hub in China's New Silk Road Project which encouraged Eurasia wide economic integration. Siemens constructed an extension of the system to Milan in the early 2020s, increasing trade between Italy and Bulgaria while also making the later country a transit point Italian land trade with Asia via HSR. All these economic projects increased Bulgaria's economic ties to the Shanghai Pact nations during the 2020s.