“Bulgaria–Russia relations”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Bulgaria–Russia relations ({{lang-bg|Отношения между България и Русия}}, {{lang-ru|Российско-болгарские отношения}}) is in reference to the foreign relations conducted between Bulgaria and Russia. Both countries established diplomatic relations on July 7, 1879. Bulgaria has an embassy in Moscow and three consulates general (in Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg). Russia has an embassy in Sofia and two consulates general (in Ruse and Varna).

Both countries are Slavic nations, and are bound together by a common Orthodox Christian culture. Bulgaria was a staunch Soviet ally during the Cold War, and retains an overall good relationship with Russia. However, following woes over energy projects like the cancelled South Stream pipeline and frozen Belene Nuclear Power Plant project, as well as the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia, relations have deteriorated noticeably.

Country comparison

History

Early relations

The citizens of modern-day Russia and Bulgaria have had centuries-long interactions, sharing a common heritage.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} The Cyrillic alphabet originated during the 9th century and was later accepted by the Orthodox Slavic countries as their standard alphabet. Relations between Russia and Bulgaria have dated back as far as the 19th century. Both nations had the tradition of calling monarchs Tsars, a Slavic word for Caesar or Emperor. Russia helped Bulgaria gain sovereignty from the Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarians then built an Orthodox church in Sofia named after the Russian saint Alexander Nevsky in honor of the Russian soldiers who helped Bulgaria during that war.

20th century

During World War II, Bulgaria started as a member of the Axis powers{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}}, but as the Soviets invaded the Balkans, Bulgaria joined the Soviet side.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} The Soviet Red Army backed the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944 which brought communists to power the same year. From 1945 to 1948, the country became firmly entrenched as part of the Soviet sphere of influence under the control of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) which oversaw a program of Stalinization in the late 1940s and 1950s,^[1] and joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955.^[1] Political repression was widespread.^[1] Bulgaria was highly dependent on Soviet patronage, with Soviet technical and financial aid enabling it to rapidly industrialize and the USSR providing Bulgaria with energy and markets for its goods.^[2] Bulgaria also received large-scale military and defense-industry aid from the Soviet Union, taking in nearly USD $16.7 billion between 1946 and 1990.^[3] Bulgaria remained part of the Soviet bloc until 1989, when the BCP began to drift away from the USSR; the first multi-party elections were held in 1990, and the BCP lost power in elections the following year.^[1]

Georgi Ivanov, a military officer from Bulgaria became the first Bulgarian into outer space when he boarded Soyuz 33 along with Soviet cosmonaut Nikolai Rukavishnikov. The flight preparation was prepared by Bulgarian scientists as well. During this era, Bulgaria was led by Todor Zhivkov, a close friend of Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union.

After 1989

After the fall of communism in 1989, Bulgarian–Russia relations turned into a new stage. The relations were highly influenced by the type of Bulgarian government - right-wing or left-wing, as the leftist governments were seeking closer ties while right-wing governments were seeking stricter and tighter political and economic relations. During the communist era, Bulgaria was called as one of the 'Soviet satellites' and that type of image was challenging for both new Bulgarian foreign policy and the relations between the two countries. However, aspirations of intervention in internal Bulgarian affairs were not lacking. That led to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats during the UDF (СДС) government in March 2001 as Ivan Kostov, then Prime Minister of Bulgaria, saw attempts to take down the Bulgarian government by the Russian agents in the Bulgarian government, only five months before the legitimate end of the government term.^[4] Relations between the two remained moderate despite Bulgaria's integration with Western Europe and the United States by joining NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007 although Russia continues to rely with its post-Soviet allies in Belarus and Central Asia.

Later, the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, of the BSP party was seeking large cooperation and multiple agreements in the area of energy, which he coined the making of a so-called 'Grand Slam'.^[5]^[6] Although he managed with two mandates, he largely lacked public support. Most agreements were later revised, with the successful projects being given a start, but unsuccessful ones being stopped, such as NPP Belene, which was halted due to the unprofitable nature of the project for the Bulgarian side. That was not appreciated by the former Prime Minister and current PES leader Sergei Stanishev who had promised to take down the right wing government of Boyko Borisov because of it; some experts speculate that the following earlier resignation of the government was not only caused by the BSP pressure but was also not without the involvement of the Russian side.

Country comparison

History

Early relations

20th century

After 1989

See also

Bulgarian community of Russia

References

External links