Bulgarian-Romanian relations are at a time of upswing, when there is both an international context and political will at a high level in both countries for their development. Almost a year has passed since Presidents Rumen Radev and Klaus Iohannis signed the Joint Political Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Bulgaria and Romania in Sofia (March 15, 2023). Through this document, they committed themselves to closer political interaction, cooperation in the field of security, infrastructure development, including the construction of a new bridge over the Danube at Ruse-Giurgiu, mutual support in the affirmation of Bulgaria and Romania in the EU and in international organizations such as the OECD.

We can perceive as a result the boosting of cooperation between different state institutions, such as the diplomatic institutes or the public-service radios of the two countries. There is also growth in bilateral trade and tourism, but despite the desire of the pro-European elites of the two countries to bring their societies closer together, they are so far facing a lack of ground-breaking initiatives, as well as of people and organizations to play the role of bridges of friendship in bilateral relations. Bulgarians and Romanians still do not know each other enough, have negative stereotypes or prejudices about each other and the change in relations has not yet reached the deeper societal levels. In order to have density and depth, the Bulgarian-Romanian rapprochement needs an increase in the trust and mutual curiosity between the people of the two countries.

However, there are still various prejudices about Bulgaria in Romania - for example, that it is too closely allied with Russia, that Bulgarian businesses are dubious, Bulgarians simply do not seem particularly interesting to the Romanian elites, who either look almost exclusively to the West, or defend Romanian sovereignty and exclusivity from the nationalism of its neighboring nations. On the other hand, there seems to be an opinion in Bulgaria that Romania is progressing economically, but there is also a great ignorance of the Romanian modern reality, as well as Bulgarian stereotypes, according to which Romanians do not deserve special involvement. The project for an incinerator for medical and animal waste in Giurgiu, for example, has inflamed the old wound from the time of socialism that pollution from Romania will come again to the already problematic air in Ruse.

In February 2024, the Romanian state news agency Agerpres reported that Eurohold and EIG had filed claims with the European Court of Human Rights and it was revealed that they were preparing an arbitration claim for more than €500 million in a US-based international arbitration court for damages that they suffered as a result of the actions of the Romanian financial regulator. In September 2023, Libertatea, the leading media that investigated the Euroins scandal, wrote that the debts of Euroins, the former leader in the civil liability segment with 27% of this market, which has been insolvent since June 9, 2023, "currently amount to 600 million lei (120 million euros), but the potential exposure reaches 5 billion lei (1 billion euros), according to an analysis by CITR, the company's judicial liquidator".

Towards the end of 2023, a scandal erupted with Libertatea itself, whose editors complained that the "Bulgarian-Swiss management" of Gazeta Sporturilor - the sports newspaper that is part of the same media group as Libertatea, owned by the Swiss company Ringier - wanted to interfere with the newspaper's editorial policy regarding the gambling business. The editors refused to provide the management with articles critical of the gambling business in Romania, which led to restructuring of Libertatea and Gazeta Sporturilor, the star team led by editor-in-chief Katelin Tolontan was fired, and in recent months more and more journalists from Libertatea found jobs in other media. The displeasure of Tolontan and his team is directed in particular against the Bulgarian element in the management, which they say advances the interests of the betting companies and violates the independence of the press.

These are just two examples in which Bulgarian business practices in Romania do not give rise to positive associations and this creates an opinion about "Bulgarians" in general. And Bulgarian-Romanian relations need positive energy, especially at the level of interpersonal communication, where the two peoples are still too cautious or suspicious of each other. The real change in bilateral relations and the real strategic partnership will begin when Bulgarians and Romanians manage to get to know each other, find meaning in communication and create relationships of trust.

In this sense, the positive dynamics between two institutions that seem to have found the formula for the development of relations - the national radios and the diplomatic institutes - is impressive. After BNR opened a Romanian-language edition of Radio Bulgaria in 2022, offering news about Bulgaria in Romanian, the Bulgarian National Radio and Radio Romania signed a cooperation agreement, within whose framework talks are held and events are organized - the latter of which is the visit of the Bulgarian children's radio choir in Bucharest and its joint concert with the children's radio choir of Radio Romania on February 29, 2024. As stated in an interview with Radio Bulgaria, Dan Preda - head of Radio România Actualității (Radio Romania News) - the cooperation between the two public media is becoming increasingly specific, and it rests on a shared interest in providing reliable information.

• BNR Children's Choir to have first joint concert together with Romanian Radio Children's Choir

As for the interaction between the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute and the Romanian Diplomatic Institute, we should mention the organization of the forthcoming March 14 conference in Bucharest, dedicated to the Bulgarian-Romanian strategic partnership, in which high-ranking diplomats and foreign policy experts will take part. But it also has many other dimensions. In the autumn of 2023, the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute published the collection of studies "Romanian foreign policy in a geopolitical context and Bulgaria", which makes an in-depth analysis of bilateral relations and offers approaches for their development. In turn, the Romanian Diplomatic Institute works on publications and studies that examine Bulgaria, Romania and Southeast Europe as a whole. It is noteworthy that, both in the case of diplomatic institutes and media interaction, it rests on the familiarity and trust between the managements of these institutions.

In the past year, a wind of change has been blowing in Bulgarian-Romanian relations, but the momentum and accumulated attitudes from the previous times, when the two countries were not so interested in each other, are also still visible. It is striking, for example, that between Bulgaria and Romania cultural centers in the capitals have not been exchanged, which limits the extent to which their cultural achievements are known and does not favour getting to know each other. In comparison, the Bulgarian cultural centers in Hungary, Austria or Poland are an important part of the cultural life in the capitals of the respective countries and contribute to a better knowledge of Bulgarians in these countries. In Romania, according to the last census of 2021, six thousand people identified themselves as Bulgarians.

The activity of elites to improve these relations needs a connection with the people, with the masses, without whose support the change in relations will remain limited. And that wouldn't be fair. Bulgarians and Romanians have a historical closeness and can offer each other valuable experience, as long as the people looking for it have the right keys to it.

One year after the signing of the document, we can summarize that there is quite little talk about the Bulgarian-Romanian strategic partnership in the media of both countries. Perhaps only the BNR and BTA, which opened a correspondent post in Bucharest in October 2022, refer to it in their reports. However, the important thing is that a process of mutual opening, getting to know each other and cooperation has begun. This process must continue, because it brings a long-awaited change and allows both Bulgarians and Romanians to take their rightful place in the plans of the neighbouring country as the Bulgarian ambassador Radko Vlaykov stated in his own way in his interview with Radio Bulgaria from 2023.

Photos: BTA, BGNES, archive, etias.com