Bulgarian-Romanian relations are foreign relations between

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

and

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

. Bulgaria has an embassy in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

. Romania has an embassy in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) 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 parts of the country. ...

and three honorary consulates (in

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a pop ...

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Si ...

and

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) 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 ...

). There are 7,336

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not complete ...

who are living in Romania and around 4,575

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

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 political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

History

Bulgarian relations with Romania feature regular official visits by the two presidents. Romanian-Bulgarian relations are developing "very intensively" because of EU accession, since Romania and Bulgaria both joined the European Union in 2007. In the first half of the 20th century, Romania and Bulgaria had a serious conflict over the

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

region. This dispute, while now largely forgotten, escalated into all out war in 1913. The territorial dispute between the two countries ended with the

Treaty of Craiova The Treaty of Craiova ( bg, Крайовска спогодба, Krayovska spogodba; ro, Tratatul de la 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 te ...

. There are close relations between Ruse and

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; bg, Гюргево) 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 ...

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; bg, Мост на дружбата, ''Most na druzhbata'' or, more commonly, Дунав Mост, ''Dunav most''; ro, Podul Prieteniei or ''Podul de la Giurgiu'') is a steel truss bridge ...

. The other bridge is the

New Europe Bridge The New Europe Bridge ( bg, Мостът Нова Европа, Mostŭt Nova Evropa; ro, Podul Noua Europă) is a road and rail bridge between the cities of Vidin, Bulgaria, and Calafat, Romania. It is the second bridge on the shared section ...

located between

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 br ...

, 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 ( bg, Бойко Методиев Борисов, ; born 13 June 1959) is a Bulgarian politician who served as the prime minister of Bulgaria from 2009 to 2013, 2014 to 2017, and 2017 to 2021, making him Bulgaria's List of ...

, 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"

Gallery

Image:Romania Postage Stamp - Friendship.jpg, Romanian 1948 stamp depicting Romanian-Bulgarian friendship File:AleeaAlexandruNr14.JPG, Embassy of Bulgaria in Bucharest File:Ambasada-romaniei.jpg, Embassy of Romania in Sofia

Resident diplomatic missions

* Bulgaria has an embassy in

. * Romania has an embassy in

References

External links

Bulgarian embassy in Bucharest

Romanian embassy in Sofia
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