Bulgaria
Country in SE Europe, bounded N by Romania, W by Yugoslavia and the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, S by Greece, SE by Turkey,
and E by the Black Sea.
Government
Under the 1991 constitution, Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic.
There is a single-chamber legislature, the 240-member national
assembly, directly elected every five years by a system of proportional
representation. The prime minister is the leader of the party
or group with a majority in the assembly. The state president,
who is also commander in chief of the armed forces, is popularly
elected for a five-year term. The president's powers are principally
ceremonial.
History
In the ancient world Bulgaria comprised Thrace and Moesia and was the
Roman province of Moesia Inferior. It was occupied in the 6th
century AD by the Slavs, followed by Bulgars from Asia in the
7th century (the Bulgarian language combines Slavonic and other
Balkan influences). In 865 Khan Boris adopted Eastern Orthodox
Christianity, and under his son Simeon (893-927), who assumed
the title of tsar, Bulgaria became a leading power. It was ruled
by Byzantium from the 11th century until 1185, when a second Bulgarian
empire was established. From 1396 Bulgaria formed part of the
Ottoman Empire for almost 500 years, becoming an autonomous principality
1878 and an independent kingdom 1908.
Fascism
Bulgaria allied itself with Germany during World War I. From 1919 a
government of the leftist Agrarian Party introduced land reforms,
but was overthrown 1923 by a fascist coup. An authoritarian promonarchist
government was established 1934 under King Boris III. During World
War II Bulgaria again allied itself with Germany, being occupied
1944 by the USSR.
Republic
In 1946 the monarchy was abolished, and a republic was proclaimed under
a communist- leaning alliance, the Fatherland Front, led by Georgi
Dimitrov (1882- 1949). Bulgaria reverted largely to its 1919 frontiers.
The new republic adopted a Soviet-style constitution 1947, with
nationalized industries and cooperative farming introduced. Vulko
Chervenkov, Dimitrov's brother-in-law, became the dominant political
figure 1950-54, introducing a Stalinist regime. He was succeeded
by the more moderate Todor Zhivkov, under whom Bulgaria became
one of the USSR's most loyal satellites.
Haphazard reforms
During the 1980s the country faced mounting economic problems, chiefly
caused by the rising cost of energy imports. Under the promptings
of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a haphazard series of administrative
and economic reforms was instituted 1985-89. This proved insufficient
to placate reformists either inside or outside the Bulgarian Communist
Party (BCP). In Nov 1989, influenced by the democratization movements
sweeping other East European countries and backed by the army
and the USSR, the foreign secretary Petar Mladenov ousted Zhivkov.
Mladenov became leader of the BCP and president of the state council,
and quickly promoted genuine political pluralism. In Dec 1989
legislation was passed to end the BCP's `leading role´ in the
state and allow the formation of free opposition parties and trade
unions; political prisoners were freed; and the secret-police
wing responsible for dissident surveillance was abolished.
Relations with Turkey
Bulgaria's relations with neighbouring Turkey deteriorated during 1989,
following the flight of 300,000 ethnic Turks from Bulgaria to
Turkey after the Bulgarian government's violent suppression of
their protests at the programme of `Bulgarianization´ (forcing
them to adopt Slavic names and resettle elsewhere). The new Mladenov
government announced Dec 1989 that the forced assimilation programme
would be abandoned; this provoked demonstrations by anti -Turk
nationalists (abetted by BCP conservatives) but encouraged the
gradual return of most Turkish refugees to Bulgaria, greatly improving
relations with Turkey.
Market economy
In Feb 1990 Alexander Lilov, a reformer, was elected party chief, and
Andrei Lukanov became prime minister. Zhivkov was imprisoned on
charges of corruption and abuse of power. A government decree
relegalized private farming and a phased lifting of price controls
commenced April 1990 as part of a drive towards a market economy.
Huge price rises and food shortages resulted. In the same month
the BCP renamed itself the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Petar
Mladenov resigned as president July 1990, and was replaced by
opposition leader Dr Zhelyu Zhelev.
In Nov 1990, after mass demonstrations in Sofia, a general strike,
and a boycott of parliament by opposition deputies, the government
of Andrei Lukanov resigned. A nonparty politician, Dimitur Popov,
took over at the head of a caretaker coalition government, and
strikes by workers and students were called off.
End of communist rule
A new constitution was adopted July 1991 which defined the country
as a parliamentary republic with a ` democratic, constitutional,
and welfare state´. The general election of that year resulted
in a hung parliament and the right-of-centre Union of Democratic
Forces (UDF) formed a minority government, headed by Filip Dimitrov.
This was Bulgaria's first wholly noncommunist government for 46
years. In 1992 Zhelyu Zhelev became Bulgaria's first directly
elected president, and a nonparty ` government of experts´ was
formed, with Lyuben Berov as prime minister. The European Community
formally invited Bulgaria to apply for membership June 1993. A
voucher- based `mass privatization´ programme was launched Aug
1993. Berov resigned Sept 1994 and Zhelev dissolved parliament.
A general election was held Dec 1994 and the ex-communist BSP
won 125 of the 240 assembly seats. Zhan Videnov, hardline leader
of the BSP, became prime minister. He pledged to work towards
closer relations with Russia and to reduce the economic hardship
associated with market reform by giving more attention to social
and welfare issues. Bulgaria agreed to joint military operations
with Romania Feb 1994.
As part of a programme to cut debt and restore the country's
international creditworthiness, almost 70 loss- making companies
owned by the state were closed May 1996. The lev fell in value
by more than 25%during the first four months of 1996 and two -thirds
of the country's banks were insolvent. However, inflation fell
to 30% and the economy was in its third year of modest growth.
In June 1996, however, in the first-ever American-style primary
election held in eastern Europe, Zhelev failed to secure nomination
for the presidency. Following elections Nov 1996, Petar Stoyanov
of the UDF became president, defeating the BSP-backed candidate;
he took office in Jan 1997.
In the wake of the defeat of the BSP- backed candidate in the
Nov presidential election, Zhan Videnov resigned as leader of
the BSP and as prime minister. His deputy, Georgi Parvanov, was
elected BSP leader in Dec 1996, but the opposition UDF, supported
by a wave of strikes and demonstrations, boycotted parliament
and demanded fresh elections and the immediate dissolution of
parliament. The BSP, with a continuing majority, refused to dissolve
parliament and nominated the interior minister, Nikolay Dobrev,
to take over as prime minister in Jan 1997, forming a broad-spectrum
government of experts. Trade unions responded by calling a general
strike on 30 Jan 1997, and the country faced a mounting economic
and political crisis. Inflation spiralled and the lev, which had
stood at 70 to the US dollar in early 1996, plummeted to around
1,900 in early 1997. This persuaded Dobrev to agree to the holding
of a general election in April 1997 and the formation of an interim
government headed by the popular UDF mayor of Sofia, Stefan Sofiyanski.
The new government brought the monthly inflation rate down from
243% in Feb 1997 to 5 % in April 1997, and announced that Bulgaria
would seek full NATO membership.
The reformist UDF won a majority in the April 1997 general election,
attracting 52% of the vote and winning 137 seats in the 240-member
parliament. Turnout slumped to 59%. The new government pledged
to attack crime and corruption, accelerate privatization, and
establish an IMF-imposed currency board to stabilize the currency
and inflation rate. The UDF leader Ivan Kostov, a former finance
minister, became prime minister.
In Jan 1997, 85-year-old Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria's communist
leader 1954-89, who had been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment
in 1992 for embezzlement and misappropriation of state funds,
was released from house arrest.
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