Throughout the communist era in Bulgaria, that is, since World War II, the foreign policy of the country has mirrored that of the Soviet Union. In addition to the close relationship resulting from bilateral agreements between the two countries, Bulgaria was also a charter member of both the Soviet-dominated Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON—see Glossary) and the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact) military alliance. Bulgaria's loyalty to the Soviet Union throughout the period is always a starting point in political writings on Eastern European affairs.

The successive leaders of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP—see Glossary) have consistently maintained that their country's fortunes would rise with those of the Soviet Union. To the Bulgarian Communists, such loyalty was not only natural from an ideological point of view but was also the pragmatic course, given the factors of world power politics in the postwar era. Todor Zhivkov, the BKP leader since 1954, and still in office in 1973, continued to adhere to a policy of close alignment with the Soviet Union and used the relationship as the foundation of his regime. The nature of the relationship has developed along two parallel lines: the BKP has maintained close ties with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the same time that government-to-government affairs have become increasingly intertwined.

As is true with other countries in which the communist party has become the dominant political force, in Bulgaria the formulation of foreign policy takes place at the highest party level—the Politburo. After the party has announced the basic policy, the administration of foreign affairs is handled by government ministries. The government has repeatedly dedicated itself to the goals of the world communist movement and, particularly, to the goal of solidarity among socialist states, always acknowledging Soviet leadership. In the Sino-Soviet rift that developed during the 1960s, Bulgaria continually expressed its allegiance to Moscow and decried the divisiveness that resulted from polycentric attitudes and actions.

In mid-1973 Bulgaria maintained diplomatic relations with eighty-two governments, thirty-six of which had embassies in Sofia. The remaining governments carried on diplomatic relations through their representatives in nearby capitals. Bulgaria maintained fifty-four embassies in foreign countries and, as a member of the United Nations (UN), maintained an ambassador and a staff in New York. Bulgaria also participated in the activities of many of the UN special agencies.

DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN POLICY

Historical Factors

Bulgaria emerged from World War II under the control of a coalition government dominated by the BKP, which by 1947 had arrogated unto itself complete power in the country. In the immediate postwar years policy and direction concerning how the BKP should run the country was dictated from Moscow, as was the case throughout most of the countries of Eastern Europe. Between 1944 and 1948 eight countries had been taken over by communist parties and had aligned themselves with the Soviet Union, which exerted varying degrees of influence in the internal and international affairs of all of them. Over the next twenty years Yugoslavia and Albania broke out of the Soviet orbit completely; the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia experienced uprisings or civil disorders—in most cases suppressed by Soviet force—and Romania asserted its right to national self-determination on numerous occasions. Bulgaria alone remained unwavering in its absolute allegiance to the Soviet Union.

Bulgaria chose not to follow the examples of other Eastern European countries in seeking some degree of autonomy during the 1950s and 1960s for many reasons. Not least among these were the historic traditions of friendship between Bulgarians and Russians dating back to the Russo-Turkish war that freed Bulgaria from Turkish rule in 1878. Bulgarians are also close to the Russians in language, religion, and cultural traditions. Additionally, having assumed power, the Bulgarian Communists quite naturally looked toward Moscow—then the center of world communism—for guidance and support. Many of the early postwar leaders had spent several years as residents of the Soviet Union, where they had been closely associated with the country's party.

Another reason for the close ties to the Soviet Union was pure pragmatism on the part of the Bulgarian communist leaders. They were, in effect, a minority leadership group faced with the task of imposing an alien ideology on a reluctant majority at the same time that they were trying to reorient the country's economy from an agricultural base to an industrial base. The Bulgarian leaders needed the support of the Soviet Union.

Beset by intraparty strife and lack of success in running the country after the death of Georgi Dimitrov—the leading Bulgarian communist hero and strong man of the early postwar years—the party leadership again clung to Soviet support and totalitarian rigidity to perpetuate itself in power. Even after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and the later de-Stalinization program under Nikita Khrushchev, Bulgaria's leaders retained Stalinism as a modus operandi until the early 1960s.

After Zhivkov became first secretary of the party in 1954, there was a long power struggle, for a third time, and it was not until the early 1960s that Zhivkov managed to eliminate his major antagonists from the party hierarchy and stabilize his regime. During all of those years and on through the 1960s and into the 1970s, Zhivkov continued the policy of absolute loyalty to the Soviet Union and to its leadership. Consequently, Bulgarian foreign policy has been a mirror image of Soviet policy.

Principles of Foreign Policy

Bulgaria's constitution, in describing how the state serves the people in foreign affairs, mentions "developing and cementing friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the other socialist countries" and "pursuing a policy of peace and understanding with all countries and peoples." Official spokesmen proclaim that the country's international relations are founded on the necessity for protecting national sovereignty and on the creation of an overall attitude that would further the cause of all nations in their development as modern states.

A quotation from the party program developed for the Tenth Party Congress in 1971 indicates that, as far as Bulgaria's leaders are concerned, the Soviet Union leads and Bulgaria follows. "For the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Bulgarian people, Bulgarian-Soviet friendship is like the sun and the air for every living creature, it is a friendship of centuries and for centuries, one of the main driving forces of our development, a condition and guarantee for the future progress of our socialist fatherland and its tomorrow."

CONDUCT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Constitution of 1971 assigns the conduct of foreign relations to the National Assembly, the State Council, and the Council of Ministers. Formulation of foreign policy, however, remains a prerogative of the BKP. The constitution states that the National Assembly implements foreign policy but, because the assembly meets only three times each year in short sessions, the implementation function is passed on to the State Council during the long interim periods between assembly meetings. Primary responsibilities of the State Council in foreign affairs (as opposed to those limited to the periods between National Assembly meetings) include representation of the country in its international relations; the appointment, recall, or release from duty of diplomats and consular officials; the ratification or denunciation of international agreements; and the establishment of diplomatic and consular ranks.

Although the ministries of foreign affairs and foreign trade are the governmental operating agencies in the field of international relations, in theory and in fact the State Council is the supervisory body. The State Council exercises control over the activities of the Council of Ministers and the ministries as stipulated in the constitution. In essence, the State Council is the most powerful government organ, not only in foreign affairs but in all governmental activities. The interlocking of positions between the highest levels of the party and the highest levels of the government assures that the BKP program will be implemented.

According to the constitution, the Council of Ministers "organizes the implementation of the home and foreign policy of the state." The council is also charged with the concluding of international agreements and the approval or denunciation of international agreements that are not subject to ratification. In performing its constitutional duties in foreign affairs, the Council of Ministers acts through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the administrative arm of the government in the execution of foreign policy directives, decrees, and decisions of the BKP and in representing the country abroad in embassies, legations, and consular offices. The ministry, in the prosecution of its duties and functions, employs a minister, two first deputy ministers, four deputy ministers, and a secretary general, who are assisted by the heads of eight geographic departments. In 1973 these departments were designated to handle affairs with the Soviet Union, other socialist states, the Balkans, Western Europe, Asia, the Arab-bloc countries, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas.

The functional departments include: administrative, consular, political, research and planning, cultural, documentation and archives, economic, finance and accounting, international organization, inspectors, personnel, press and cultural affairs, protocol, and legal. A committee for church affairs and a diplomatic service bureau, although not classified as regular departments, function as such. Also included is the position of disarmament negotiator.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade functions under the direction and supervision of a minister, a first deputy minister, and six deputy ministers, who are almost always high-ranking members of the BKP. The ministry itself is organized into thirteen geographic offices and seven departments. The different geographic offices handle trade agreements with the Soviet Union, other socialist countries, developed capitalist countries, Asia and Latin America, and the Arab and African countries. Other offices include foreign exchange planning and accounting, coordination, leadership and control of foreign trade organizations, currency and finance, economic planning, market conditions, planning, and personnel. There are departments for statistics, secretariat and protocol, legal and departmental arbitration, accounting and auditing, administration, labor and wages, and control inspectorate. Additionally, there are offices and sections not falling under any specific category but existing independently. They are: an office for a trade fair director general, trade representatives, a foreign trade research institute, and a state inspection on the quality of goods for export.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Relations with Communist Countries

Bulgaria's foreign policy and foreign trade are circumscribed to a great extent within the alliances formed by the Soviet Union and the communist countries of Eastern Europe. In the early 1970s this tightly knit, although polycentric, group continued to expect and did receive Bulgaria's participation in preserving the status quo in Eastern Europe. As is the case with other Eastern European countries, Bulgaria wants Western technology and also would like to attract more Western tourists to increase its hard currency intake. Bulgaria's motive for attracting the West is economic rather than ideological. It is accepted within the socialist alliances that the principle of proletarian internationalism does not preclude diversity of trading partners of the individual member countries.

Soviet Union

Bulgarian relations with the Soviet Union have been described as subservient, and Zhivkov once acknowledged that he was "known for being bound to the Soviet Union in life and death." In 1948 Bulgaria entered into the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Aid with the Soviet Union, which was renewed for another twenty years on May 12, 1967, and over the years the close alignment between the two countries has taken on greater importance. Ideologically, it is well known that Bulgaria is a loyal partner within the Soviet-dominated socialist group. Its leaders have been schooled in Marxism-Leninism and usually look to the Soviet Union for leadership.

Economically, Bulgaria still looks to the Soviet Union for foreign aid and preferential trade treatment. The rapid pace with which Bulgaria has moved toward industrialization is primarily owing to Soviet assistance. Raw materials critical to Bulgaria's economy are supplied by the Soviet Union and, with Soviet aid, the country has been able to construct many large industrial enterprises. Estimates in 1967 put the number of Soviet specialists in Bulgaria at 5,000, and the number has probably increased. The renewal of a five-year agreement for 1971 through 1975 would serve to increase further the Soviet share of trade in Bulgaria.

Relations with Other Communist States

Bulgaria's relations with Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania are largely governed by a series of bilateral and multilateral treaties of friendship and cultural cooperation and by military and economic alliances. The alliances are the Warsaw Pact and COMECON. Relations with the other two communist states of Eastern Europe, Albania and Yugoslavia, have usually followed Soviet initiatives toward those countries.

Quite naturally, Bulgaria's major concerns in foreign affairs have dealt with relations among the states of the Balkan Peninsula and particularly with adjacent states. Romania, its northern neighbor, is a member of COMECON and the Warsaw Pact but has often appeared to be a reluctant member and since the early 1960s has stressed nationalism rather than Marxist internationalism, causing Bulgaria, with its strong Soviet orientation, to tread lightly in bilateral relations for fear of offending the Soviets. Nevertheless, the Bulgarians and Romanians have drawn closer together, probably because both countries see benefits that might accrue from Balkan cooperation and believe that such cooperation should in no way disturb the Soviet Union. In the early 1970s relations appeared to be particularly good: there were frequent meetings between leaders and government ministers, and a plan to cooperate in the building of a huge hydroelectric project on the Danube River between the two countries was announced.

Relations with Yugoslavia have more often than not been troubled to the point of enmity. The problems existing between these two countries have deep historical roots that hinge primarily on the Bulgarian contention that Macedonia (since 1946 a federated republic of Yugoslavia) should be Bulgarian rather than Yugoslavian. After World War II, when both countries became communist, the Macedonian question was purposely deemphasized but, when the Soviet-Yugoslav split occurred in 1948, ideological differences paved the way for a renewal of the polemics on the Bulgarian irredentist claims. In the early 1970s the polemics were reduced to a minor level, and constructive talks leading to a rapprochement began to occur. The changed atmosphere was attributed to the state of relations between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia but, for whatever reason, the climate of relations between Bulgaria and its western neighbor was considerably improved, and Bulgarian irredentism was submerged.

Relations with Noncommunist States

The European Conference for Security and Cooperation held in Helsinki in the spring of 1973 discussed the possibility of a freer exchange of people and ideas as well as a freer flow of information between Western European and Eastern European societies. The intensity of ideological polemics had diminished with increasing contacts between East and West, and the gap between the two social systems seemed narrower, especially in regard to economic planning and development. Bulgaria, however, publicly expressed doubts about importing anti-communist theories that might accompany the freer exchanges of people, ideas, and information.

In a plenum of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party in July 1973, the party leaders touched on issues of international relations. The leaders pledged to continue a new policy of building goodwill and enhancing relations with noncommunist European states as well as with other developed capitalist states in all aspects of political, economic, cultural, and other relations. Bulgaria also sought to continue cultivating and developing friendly relations with nonaligned friendly countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Consistent with this policy, it pledged to render assistance to these countries, especially where there were national liberation movements involved in active resistance to the established regimes.

Greece and Turkey

Greece is geographically contiguous to Bulgaria, and relations between the two countries have been alternately hot and cold depending on the political climate of the times. In 1964 both countries signed an accord relative to war reparations, which opened up some channels of communication, cultural exchanges, and relaxed travel restrictions. The move toward better relations was interrupted by the 1967 coup d'etat in Greece, but improvement began again in the early 1970s when officials of the two governments exchanged visits. By 1972 a newly created Bulgarian-Greek economic cooperation commission had met in Sofia.

Difficulties between Bulgaria and Turkey have deep roots in history and also involve the 750,000 ethnic Turks still residing in Bulgaria (see ch. 2; ch. 4). An atmosphere of cordiality, however, had been developing slowly as the officials of both countries cautiously negotiated to reduce tensions between the two countries. Exchanges of high-level visits and the signing of various economic agreements had stabilized Bulgarian-Turkish relations by the early 1970s. The hijacking of two Turkish planes to Sofia in 1972 disturbed the dÉtente temporarily, but the Bulgarian foreign minister went quickly to Turkey to make amends. In 1973 the two countries again enjoyed improved relations.

The United States

The tensions that marked Bulgarian-United States foreign relations in the 1950s eased somewhat in the 1960s. The legations of both countries were raised to embassy status in November 1966. This action was believed to be an offshoot of United States efforts, particularly that of President Lyndon B. Johnson, to "build bridges" to Eastern Europe. This resumption of diplomatic goodwill was not pursued vigorously and, at the time, reception to the idea in Bulgaria was generally cool. A noted communist theoretician regarded the United States overtures as a divisive force in the fraternal world of the communist movement, designed ultimately to bring in a capitalist system inimical to the ideological interest of any socialist country.

In 1973 the relations between the two countries were, however, cordial. Observers noted an increase in trade, although it was still quantitatively small and accounted for only between US$6 million and US$7 million annually. Bulgaria hoped to increase this volume to US$30 million, especially by exporting high-quality tobacco to the United States market.

Bulgaria has been seeking a consular agreement that would grant it most-favored-nation tariff treatment in order to keep Bulgarian exports on a competitive level with others in the United States market. Toward this end, a Bulgarian trade delegation visited the United States in mid-July 1973 to exchange views on expanded trade and economic relations between the two countries. While in Washington the delegation met with top officials from the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Treasury, and the Export-Import Bank and with some members of Congress.

West Germany

The two world wars saw Bulgaria fighting on Germany's side. Thereafter Bulgarian policy differed from the Soviet line only once in a case that involved relations between Bulgaria and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). When Chancellor Ludwig Erhard sounded out several Eastern European governments with peace notes in 1966, Bulgaria along with Romania did not publish official replies. Later that year West German officials met with the Bulgarian foreign minister, and it appeared that normalization of relations was in the offing. The negotiations did not come to fruition, however, and Bulgaria fell back in line with the Soviet Union, which at the time was hostile to West Germany. The mere fact that Bulgaria participated in such independent talks appeared remarkable to some observers.

During 1972 relations between Bulgaria and West Germany improved. Some of the reasons attributed to this changing tack included the ratification of treaties negotiated between West Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union; the opening of diplomatic channels between Poland and West Germany; and the meetings of ambassadors of European countries in Helsinki. Most important, however, was the signing of a basic treaty that established and regulated relations between West and East Germany, a condition set by Bulgaria before diplomatic relations could be resumed with West Germany. The open advocacy of the Soviet Union for improved relations with West Germany also encouraged Bulgaria to expedite the resumption of diplomatic communications.

Other Western Countries

The mid-1960s saw party chief Zhivkov "building bridges" himself with other Western countries. In light of Bulgaria's interest in expansion of trade, relations with France were improved with reciprocal visits in 1966 between Zhivkov and Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville. Also in the same year, partly as a result of these negotiations, the French car manufacturer, Renault, established an assembly plant in Bulgaria. Simultaneous with this move was the establishment of a diplomatic mission in Canada. Agreements were negotiated with Belgium and Italy on cultural, technical, and economic matters. Australia also had a share of Bulgaria's trade attention; both countries signed a long-term trade agreement in 1972, and an agreement was reached to establish diplomatic relations at the embassy level.

Relations with Other States

Bulgarian interest in trade with the developing countries has increased considerably. In 1971 and 1972 the volume of trade with third world countries exceeded 316 million leva (for value of the lev—see Glossary) as opposed to 113.3 million leva in 1965. The Arab countries rank first in the amount of business conducted with Bulgaria. A considerable number of Bulgarian experts are also engaged in the construction of industrial enterprises in various developing countries.

MEMBERSHIP IN REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Regional Cooperation

Military cooperation on a regional basis was secured for Bulgaria and its allies (the Soviet Union, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia) in a multilateral alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. Albania, an original member, withdrew in 1968 (see ch. 16). Signed on May 14, 1955, in Warsaw, Poland, the pact was and remains Eastern Europe's answer to the challenges and security arrangements of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In one sense it seemed to provide legal grounds for the Soviet Union to keep its troops in east-central Europe as well as to secure the balance of military power in Europe, especially after West Germany joined NATO. In another sense it confirmed the Soviet Union's political and military hegemony in all of Eastern Europe.

The organization has two main bodies—the Political Consultative Committee, which recommends general questions of foreign policy for member countries, and the High Command of United Armed Forces, which prepares military plans in time of war and decides troop deployments. Both bodies are located in Moscow, and all its senior ranking officials are Russians.

Bulgaria has bilateral treaties of mutual aid with each other member of the Warsaw Pact. A multilateral agreement binds all the members to one another in general and to the Soviet Union in particular. Within Bulgaria Soviet officers serve as advisers at the division level and formerly served down to the regiment level. Others serve as instructors.

Bulgaria was a charter member of COMECON in 1949. An economic alliance among Eastern European countries, COMECON is the counterpart to Western Europe's European Economic Community (commonly called the Common Market). Other members are the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and East Germany. Mongolia and Cuba, non-European countries, joined in June 1962 and July 1972, respectively. Albania joined in 1949 but withdrew in 1961.

Founded as an outlet for agricultural and industrial products and as a capital-and-labor market, COMECON, like the Warsaw Pact, binds its members to each other and all of them to the Soviet Union. Long-term trade agreements of five years are usually renewable at the end of each term. It is estimated that 60 to 65 percent of the total foreign trade of each signatory is carried on with other member countries. One of the obvious disadvantages of the organization, however, is the absence of a common market. Trade and commerce between the member countries are carried out on the basis of preference and within the framework of bilateral agreements.

Because the loose structure of COMECON does not make for effective regional planning, member countries such as Bulgaria continue to renew bilateral trade agreements within COMECON. The Soviet Union remains Bulgaria's largest foreign market, accounting for more than 50 percent of Bulgarian trade. Bulgaria also agreed to send Bulgarian workers to the Soviet Union for heavy industrial projects.

Participation of Bulgaria on a regional level has been confined to a few projects. Among these are a COMECON electric power grid, which serves the western Ukraine, especially the city of Kiev; a Romanian-Bulgarian project to construct a power dam and navigation system for sixty miles along the Danube River; a system of high-speed expressways to connect the capital cities of member countries; a project to modernize steel industries and to reduce production and delivery time; and membership in the International Bank for Economic Cooperation, headed by a former deputy chairman of the Soviet State Bank.

United Nations Membership and Participation

Bulgaria became a member of the UN on December 14, 1955. Its delegates are active in committee work of the UN organs and subsidiary bodies as well as in deliberations on the floor of the General Assembly. One of its most important committee assignments is to the so-called First Committee, which was established as one of the original six committees under the General Assembly's rules of procedure in 1946. It deals with political and security matters and was headed by Milko Tarabanov, one of five Bulgarian delegates to the UN in the session held from September through December 1972.

Available records of General Assembly activities in 1970 showed active participation of Bulgaria's delegates in committee work touching on such matters as the review of administrative tribunal judgments; the question of defining aggression; the peaceful uses of outer space; the peaceful uses of the seabed under international waters; and the implementation of the declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples. Bulgaria was particularly interested in the Caribbean territories.

As a member of the Committee on Disarmament, Bulgaria, along with twenty-four other participating states, met in Geneva in 1970. The committee met to consider the question of cessation of the nuclear arms race and associated matters, such as the prohibition of emplacing nuclear arms or other destructive weapons on the seabed. A refinement of the comprehensive test ban treaty of 1963 extended the prohibition on arms control to underground testing. Bulgaria, along with other Eastern European countries, also supported draft proposals of the committee not to undertake the "development, production, and stockpiling of chemical and bacteriological weapons" and the consequent "destruction of such weapons" as well as the prohibition of "biological methods of warfare." Bulgaria, as a member of the General Assembly's First Committee, also cosponsored a resolution to secure guarantees that the seabed would be used only for peaceful means.

In regard to the question of nuclear and thermonuclear testing, Bulgaria sought the early passage of an agreement to prohibit all nuclear weapons testing while the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were going on between the United States and the Soviet Union. Bulgaria also participated actively in the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. As a member of a subcommittee's working group, proposals and working papers were submitted on the question of liability for damage caused by objects that were launched into outer space. For its part, Bulgaria sought to clarify the "question of applicable law" and the "settlement of disputes."

The country was also represented in bodies dealing with economic questions; questions of development; and social questions involving housing, building, and planning as well as the promotion of children's welfare. Additionally, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development had Bulgarian delegates in five of its working groups, dealing with trade and development, commodities, domestic shipping, international shipping legislation, and the transfer of technology. Bulgaria is also a member of the Economic Commission for Europe.