Bulgarian–Romanian relations are foreign relations between

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. There are 7,336

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

who are living in Romania and around 4,575

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

living in Bulgaria. The countries share 608 km of common borders, mostly along the Danube. Both countries are full members of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. The two countries joined

in 2004 and then the

in 2007.

History

During the first half of the 20th century,

and

had a serious conflict over the

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

region. This dispute, while now largely forgotten, escalated into all out war in 1913. Romania participated in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

against Bulgaria. According to the Treaty of Bucharest concluded after the Bulgarian defeat, Bulgaria had to hand over

Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja or South Dobruja ( or simply , ; or , ), also the Quadrilateral (), is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silistra provinces, part of the historical region of Dobruja. It has an area of 7,412 square km an ...

region to Romania. The territorial dispute between the two countries ended with the

Treaty of Craiova The Treaty of Craiova (; ) was signed on 7 September 1940 and ratified on 13 September 1940 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under its terms, Romania had to allow Bulgaria to retake Southern Dobruja, which Romania had gained ...

in 1940. After the treaty, the two countries carried out a

population exchange Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration that is often imposed by a state policy or international authority. Such mass migrations are most frequently spurred on the basis of ethnicity or religion, but they also occur d ...

in the affected areas. The two countries fought each other in the First World War after Romania's entry in 1916. The Bulgarians took part in the campaign against Romania, the capture of Bucharest and the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest. During the 20th century, Bulgaria and Romania both fought on the side of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the cold war, both countries became communist states under the influence of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, but Romania formally left the sphere in 1964. The communist regimes of both countries ultimately collapsed in 1989. Bulgarian relations with Romania feature regular official visits by their respective presidents. Romanian-Bulgarian relations are developing "very intensively" because of EU accession, since Romania and Bulgaria both joined the European Union in 2007. There are close relations between Ruse and

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; ; ) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse on the op ...

which have one of the two bridges on the Danube in the section shared by the two countries, the

Danube Bridge The Danube Bridge (also known as the Friendship Bridge; , ''Most na druzhbata'' or, more commonly, , ''Dunav most''; or ''Podul de la Giurgiu'') is a steel truss bridge over the Danube River connecting the Bulgarian bank to the south with the R ...

. The other bridge is the

New Europe Bridge The New Europe Bridge, also known as Danube Bridge 2 (; ) is a road and rail bridge between the cities of Vidin, Bulgaria, and Calafat, Romania. It is the second bridge on the shared section of the Danube between the two countries. It is an e ...

located between

Vidin Vidin (, ) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin (since ...

and

Calafat Calafat () is a city in Dolj County, southern Romania, in the region of Oltenia. It lies on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge, opened in 2013. After the destruction of the b ...

, its construction was completed in June, 2013.

2019 African swine fever controversy

A diplomatic row broke out in August 2019 between Bulgaria and Romania over the

African swine fever African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus in the '' Asfarviridae'' family. It is the causative agent of African swine fever (ASF). The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; ...

(ASF). The Bulgarian Prime Minister,

Boyko Borisov Boyko Metodiev Borisov (, born 13 June 1959) is a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria on three separate occasions, serving a total of 9 years between 2009 and 2021, making him the country's longest-serving post-communi ...

, accused Romanian tourists of bringing the ASF disease and helping to spread it. Borisov is reported to have said: "There are 57,000 cars crossing from Romania each day into Bulgaria. I’m sure the Romanian tourists brought the disease. They eat on the side of the road, throw the food remains that help spread the swine disease. They are walking around, eating and throwing the remains all over the place. There’s nothing we can do." The Romanian foreign ministry replied that it was disappointed by Borisov's words and that Romanian tourists boost Bulgaria's GDP: "Beyond the technical arguments that will be offered by the National Veterinary Health and Food Safety Authority to respond to the unfortunate statements of the prime minister of Bulgaria, Boyko Borisov, we are surprised and disappointed by the way the Bulgarian prime minister has referred to Romanian tourists, who make a substantial contribution to the GDP of Bulgaria".

European Union

Both countries became members of the

in 2007.

NATO

Both countries became members of

in 2004.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Bulgaria has an embassy in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. * Romania has an embassy in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

File:AleeaAlexandruNr14.JPG, Embassy of Bulgaria in Bucharest File:Ambasada-romaniei.jpg, Embassy of Romania in Sofia

Gallery

Image:Romania Postage Stamp - Friendship.jpg, Romanian 1948 stamp depicting Romanian-Bulgarian friendship

References

External links

Bulgarian embassy in Bucharest

Romanian embassy in Sofia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulgaria-Romania relations

Bilateral relations of Romania