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About the Embassy
Historical Information about the U.S. Mission
Diplomatic relations between the United States and Bulgaria were established on September 19, 1903, but were broken on December 13, 1941, when Bulgaria declared war on the United States. The post-World War II treaty of peace between the Allies and Bulgaria entered into force September 15, 1947.
The first post-war U.S. minister to Bulgaria presented his credentials on November 8, 1947. Relations were suspended in February 1950, however, when Bulgaria refused to withdraw false charges of complicity in espionage made against the U.S. minister during the trial of the Bulgarian Communist Party Leader Traicho Kostov. Another U.S. minister was accredited to Bulgaria in 1960 after Bulgaria withdrew as false the charges made against his predecessor.
Following settlement of certain claims of U.S. citizens against Bulgaria as a result of an agreement signed on July 2, 1963, the United States resumed paying government benefits to persons entitled to them living in Bulgaria, and Bulgaria was allowed to open a trade office in New York City. The Bulgarian and U.S. Legations at Washington and Sofia were raised to embassy status on November 28, 1966. A consular agreement was concluded, which became effective on May 28, 1975.
Other advances were the cultural and scientific exchange agreement signed during the June 1977 visit by the late Chairman of the Committee for Art and Culture, Lyudmila Zhivkova, and the reciprocal elimination of discriminatory bilateral restrictions on the travel of accredited diplomats on November 9, 1977. A joint agricultural statement on co-operation between the U.S. department of Agriculture and the Bulgarian National Agro-Industrial Union was signed in February 1981 to facilitate marine traffic between the two countries.
Following President Zhelev's visit to the United States in February 1995, a joint statement on relations between the two countries was issued. U.S.-Bulgarian bilateral relations improved dramatically with the fall of communism in 1989. The United States moved quickly to encourage development of a multi-party democracy and a market economy. Initial progress was rapid, leading to full normalization of bilateral political and trade ties. A trade agreement was signed in 1991 and a bilateral investment treaty in 1992. The U.S. accorded Bulgaria Most Favored Nation trade status in 1996. In 1996, the U.S. was Bulgaria's sixth largest trading partner, accounting for less that 5% of Bulgaria's total trade and was Bulgaria's fourth-largest investor, with investments of $55 million.
Bulgaria serves as coordinator for the South Balkan Development Initiative, which is funded through the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to promote infrastructure development in Bulgaria, Albania, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
There is active bilateral military cooperation, including a linkage between the Bulgarian military and the Tennessee National Guard. The Department of Defense provides monetary and professional assistance through several programs, including the Joint Contact Team Program, Partnership for Peace, International Military Education and Training, Excess Defense Articles, Foreign Military Financing, and humanitarian assistance.
Bulgaria hosts the only fully American university in the region, the American University of Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, established in 1991 and drawing students from throughout Southeast Europe and beyond. The American College of Sofia, a high school founded in the 1860s and closed under communism, reopened in 1992.
In 1989, the U.S. Congress passed the Support for East European Democracies Act (SEED), authorizing financial support to facilitate the development of democratic institutions, political pluralism, and free market economies in the region. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administers the SEED programs in Bulgaria under the guidance of the U.S. ambassador. Bulgaria has received more than $300 million in SEED assistance as of March 1, 1999, along with an additional $48 million in food programs during the country's 1996-1997 economic crisis and a $15-million endowment for the American University in Bulgaria. Much of USAID's assistance focuses on strengthening non governmental organizations and other grassroots initiatives, promoting the private sector, and enhancing local government effectiveness and accountability.
The U.S. Peace Corps has been operating in Bulgaria for the last several years on the basis of an agreement signed in 1990. Peace Corps first arrived in Bulgaria in June 1991 to teach English at secondary schools and universities. The fist group of Business Volunteers started their assignments throughout the country in September 1995. As of September 1998, eight groups and 295 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Bulgaria.
During an official visit of the Bulgarian President to the United States in 1998, President Clinton and President Stoyanov discussed the strengthening of U.S.-Bulgarian relations as well as mutual efforts to enhance cooperation in Southeast Europe and advance Bulgaria's integration into the European and transatlantic communities, including NATO. The centerpiece of the visit was the announcement of a new U.S. Action Plan for a Southeast Europe. President Clinton and President Stoyanov issued a joint statement following their meeting at the White House. "The Action Plan will give further dynamism to U.S. cooperation with countries in the region in such areas as promoting peaceful resolution of disputes, combating organized crime and consolidating democratic and economic reforms", the statement says.