Over the past week we witnessed a series of strange discrepancies in the public statements of the Bulgarian political elite and many have asked themselves the question whether this is a case of contradicting positions, or is it perhaps just another bluff in order to throw dust in the eyes of the people? What is this all about?

President Rossen Plevneliev, whom some observers have already clearly defined as a Russophobe, said during his visit to Kiev that Bulgaria supported and wanted a continuation of the sanctions against Moscow until the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine was guaranteed. At a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, the Bulgarian president said that the annexation of Crimea by Russia is a violation of international law and as he said, “Bulgaria does not recognize and will never recognize this illegal act”. Plevneliev garnished his statement with the slogan: "For us the Crimea is Ukraine, and Ukraine is Europe!" which sounded like the words of the Russian hymn of an “unbreakable union of free republics” and give the impression that, in the speaker’s opinion, Russia is part of Asia.

A couple of days after Rossen Plevneliev demanded the extension of sanctions against Russia, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov defined by many observers as a pro-American politician said in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS: "I pray to God that the leaders might quickly reach an agreement and have sanctions against Russia repealed." Borissov did not stop there and added that "without having such guilt, without having such a purpose, relations between Bulgaria and Russia have chilled." He acknowledged that "Bulgaria as a loyal member of NATO and the EU supported the sanctions," but now the country was trying to do "everything possible to restore normal relations" between Bulgaria and Russia "which have long-standing traditions and whose destruction incurs Bulgaria many losses", including the counter sanctions imposed by Moscow. The Prime Minister put the icing on the cake by saying that "historical ties, the attitude of friendship and a sense of gratitude of the Bulgarian nation to Russia, which originated in the War of Liberation, do not depend on the political situation of the day."

So, in the passing week those who follow the development of Bulgaria’s foreign policy were faced with the dilemma of where the scales are tipped - to the presidential or the executive power, and what to think about the official position of Bulgaria to the Ukrainian crisis and in particular to Moscow. If we use the terms from two intelligent games - chess and bridge, we can say that Plevneliev, following his active anti-Russian policy, has already lapsed into "zugzwang" while Borissov with this unequivocal turn in his position, though it might be only an occasional and emotional flirtation with Moscow, has put his political opponents in a state of "play dummy".