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History and Government
History: Despite a turbulent history, Bulgaria is the oldest surviving state in Europe to have kept its original name (since AD 681), and most of the population are descendants of the Bulgar invasion of the south Danube around that time. On two occasions during the Medieval period the Bulgarians managed to establish empires, which existed in a state of armed conflict with Byzantium. The First Empire is reckoned to have lasted from the time of Kurt (584-642) until John Vladislav’s defeat by the Byzantines in 1018; the second was the result of an opportunist revolt in 1185 led by John and Peter Asen, who managed to take advantage of an internal weakness at Constantinople; this collapsed in 1280. Bulgaria’s territory in Macedonia was then overrun by the Serbs, then the rising power in the Balkans. Their dominance was short-lived, however, as the Ottoman Turks arrived in the 1350s. Within forty years, the country had been completely absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. Bulgaria was a stable province of the Empire until the rise of Russia as a major player on the European scene under Catherine the Great in the 18th century; Russian strategy hinged upon its self-proclaimed role as protector of the Orthodox Christian communities within the Ottoman empire.
In the 19th century, Bulgarian nationalists began to organise, noting the decline of the Ottoman empire and in expectation of eventual independence. Following an uprising in 1876, Bulgarian volunteer forces, with strong Russian support, defeated the Turks and in 1878 were able to establish an independent state under the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. The remaining years of the century were fairly chaotic as the restored monarchy and newly-formed political parties jostled for position. The most important developments were the emergence of a strong socialist movement, and the politicisation of the rural population, organised around the Bulgarian Agrarian Union. King Ferdinand was the dominant figure in Bulgarian politics up to World War I, but was discredited thereafter due to his support for Germans.
The popular Agrarian leader Aleksandur Stambolyiski, imprisoned by Ferdinand, formed a reformist government which lasted until 1923, when it was overthrown in a right-wing coup. The government of Alexander Tsankov, which replaced Stambolyiski’s administration, established a royalist-militarist government with King Boris as head of state. The Communists had launched several unsuccessful uprisings, but their chance came towards the end of World War II when – having been relatively unaffected by the fighting – Soviet forces entered the country in 1944. King Boris conveniently died, and the Soviet-backed Fatherland Front seized power. The monarchy was abolished and a republic declared. The Front, dominated by the Bulgarian Communist Party, took 70 per cent of the vote in a national plebiscite.
By the end of 1947, the Communist Party had completed its takeover of the country, instituting a Soviet-style constitution and abolishing all opposition parties. Subsequently, Bulgaria’s dominant political figure was Todor Zhivkov, and, under his leadership, Bulgaria became the staunchest of Moscow’s allies. In 1989, under intense domestic and international pressure, Zhivkov resigned. The first multi-party elections for 44 years were held in June 1990; the ruling Communists had restyled themselves the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), and won an absolute majority in the 400-seat National Assembly. Throughout the first half of the 1990s, Bulgaria was wracked by political instability and labour unrest as the country was plunged into economic crisis; five governments held office during the next six years.
The main opposition to the BSP was presented by the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) whose leader, Zhelyu Zhelev, held the presidency between 1990 and his fall as UDF leader in early 1996. His successor, Petar Stoyanov, went on to win the presidency in October 1996; the following April, the UDF also secured control of the National Assembly. A welcome period of political stability followed. But in 2001, Bulgarian politics were turned upside down by the former King Simeon II, who had not only returned to his former realm (in 1996, to a rapturous welcome, after 50 years in exile) but set up a political party modestly entitled Simeon The Second National Movement. The ex-monarch evidently struck a chord with the Bulgarian people and, in June 2001, the Movement won a resounding victory at the National Assembly elections. Simeon Koburgotski (derived from his family name of Saxe-Coburg) is now Bulgaria’s premier. At the presidential election in November 2001 – at which Simeon had intended to stand but was barred by the constitutional court – BSP candidate Georgi Parvanov defeated the UDF’s Stoyanov. However, the old two-party mould that dominated Bulgarian politics throughout the 1990s is no more.
Nevertheless, the priorities of the new government are much the same as those of their predecessors. Having successfully avoided significant involvement in the Yugoslavian imbroglio – a major worry for successive Bulgarian governments – the government is now able to concentrate upon a ‘national strategy’ for securing membership of the European Union and, more controversially, of NATO. All of these are goals supported by Simeon. NATO membership is supported by the UDF leadership but strongly opposed in other quarters: these are not only domestic but, most importantly, include Bulgaria’s main traditional ally, Russia. Despite the current uncertainty, the Sofia government has also sought and largely managed to maintain good relations with its two NATO neighbours, Greece and Turkey.
Government: Legislative power is held by the 240-seat National Assembly, whose members are directly elected for maximum four-year terms by proportional representation. The Assembly elects a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers assists the President of the Republic, who as head of state wields supreme executive power and who is also directly elected for a five-year term.
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