/ world today news/ Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that “there is a lack of sufficient evidence of Moscow’s guilt” and refused to prosecute Russian diplomats in connection with the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury. Not all Bulgarian politicians agree with him, but his supporters prevail in Sofia.
Bulgarians are interested in “Turkish Stream”
As the results of the last presidential elections showed, public opinion in Bulgaria is divided regarding Russia. In 2017, anti-Russian President Rosen Plevneliev was replaced by Moscow-friendly Rumen Radev. Sofia is now trying to correct its foreign policy course. And it tries to serve as a “bridge between East and West”, relying on trusting relations with both the Kremlin and the White House.
So far she had not succeeded. Under pressure from the US and the EU, Prime Minister Borissov abandoned the South Stream gas pipeline project, which was supposed to pass through Bulgarian territory. He also stopped the construction of the nuclear power plant “Belene”, paying a serious penalty to Moscow. Bulgaria has suffered huge financial and moral losses, and the authorities in the Balkan country do not wish for further escalation of relations with Russia.
At the same time, Moscow holds a new trump card in the Bulgarian direction: the Turkish Stream project. In Sofia, they see how unreliable Ukraine is as a gas transitor and would prefer to receive the blue fuel via a detour from the south. In March, President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Borissov discussed the possibility of building a second pipe of the gas pipeline that would pass through Bulgaria. It is possible to resume the construction of the Belene NPP, as reported by the website news.bg.
Opponents of Russia are in the minority
In an interview with RIA Novosti, the chief research associate of the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pavel Kandel, defined the new course of the Bulgarian authorities as “overcoming the imbalance” that has arisen in recent decades. Changes became inevitable after the presidential elections in 2017. “Radev came to them with the slogan of improving relations with Russia. And won. Now he must show that his words are not empty talk. Radev’s victory also affected all other authorities. Boyko Borisov, who suffered a defeat, has been much more careful since then. And before, most anti-Russian actions came from him,” says Kandel.
Video: RIA “Novosti”
The changes in the top echelons of the Bulgarian authorities do not mean a turn towards Russia. Against this are many functionaries from the GERB party, which has a majority in the parliament. The discussion of the fate of Russian diplomats in the National Assembly, for example, caused heated arguments. The chairman of the GERB parliamentary group Tsvetan Tsvetanov stated that Bulgaria has no choice but to show solidarity with Washington and London. And he accused the Russian-friendly socialists of trying to take Bulgaria out of the EU. In the end, however, opponents of the Kremlin turned out to be a minority.
“Most Bulgarians have a friendly attitude towards Russia. They have not forgotten the contribution of our country to the liberation from the Ottoman yoke. There are parties in Bulgaria that can be called pro-Russian, especially Ataka. The conservative formation is part of the ruling coalition, which limits Borisov’s room for maneuver and influences his policy towards Moscow,” concludes Kandel.
A bridge between Russia and the USA
Bulgaria’s decision not to pursue Russian diplomats raises its stakes in the geopolitical game. Against the backdrop of strained relations between Moscow and Washington, there is a need for a compromise position that could be offered by countries that have refrained from making sharp moves against both Russia and the United States. This role is traditionally claimed by Austria as a country that has maintained neutrality towards NATO. Like Sofia, Vienna also tries to be a bridge between East and West and play the role of mediator.
According to the deputy director of the Center for Political Technologies Alexey Makarkin, Bulgaria will have a harder time fighting for this role, as the Balkan country is too dependent on the EU and NATO structures. Sofia will have a hard time resisting the pressure. “For now, Bulgaria is justifying its decision with the position of the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, note ed.). And its experts have not yet reached a conclusion. In any case, Bulgaria is a member of the North Atlantic Alliance and cannot be seen as a neutral player,” says Makarkin.
Translation: “Voices”
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