Events in Bulgaria in recent days, connected with the change of government are suggestive of changes in Bulgaria‘s foreign policy. A cabinet formed with the mandate of the left Coalition for Bulgaria has resigned. Within days it will be replaced by a caretaker cabinet of conservative leanings, appointed by President Plevneliev to rule the country until mid-October. The President has distanced himself from some of the Oresharski cabinet‘s foreign policy views and has seen fit to make mention of them even before the government‘s resignation. At the meeting of heads of state of the  NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe held in Warsaw, the Bulgarian President once again reiterated that events in Ukraine require increasing NATO forces in Southeastern Europe and the Black Sea, carrying out more joint military exercises, as well as the more active use of joint military facilities in Bulgaria. The Oresharski cabinet did not subscribe to this, claiming the country was capable of coping with the increased number of Russian flights over the Black Sea and did not need any additional forces on its territory. This gulf prompted some analysts to comment that Bulgaria had „two foreign policies“. President Plevneliev has, on several occasions, levelled criticism against Moscow for its conduct with regard to the Ukraine crisis, on the assumption that it supports terrorist acts against the territorial integrity of a European country. This too is a position the outgoing government did not subscribe to and while the President was stating his support for EU sanctions against Russia, the cabinet was insisting that the EU work towards resolving the Ukraine crisis together with Russia. Two days before the Oresharski cabinet resigned, in a strongly- worded statement, President Plevneliev expressed his indignation over the stated intention by the Bulgarian Energy Holding to conclude a loan contract worth billions with the Russian consortium Gazprom for Bulgaria‘s involvement in the South stream gas pipeline project. Ultimately, the government made no such decision, but the strong reaction by the head of state indicates that under the changed political circumstances in Sofia, we may well expect such a turnabout. The caretaker cabinet will be appointed by the President and will, naturally, follow his guidelines.What they will be and how they will be followed is something we shall find out soon enough.

English version: Milena Daynova