Georgi Markov, BNR
On 7 December 2023. Vladimir Mitev was interviewed on the “Something More” emission of the Bulgarian National Radio’s Horizon news programme on the occasion of his research on Romanian foreign policy in a geopolitical context and Bulgaria, published by the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute.
Vladimir commented that in Bulgaria there is a somewhat outdated view of Romania – for example, not everyone realises that Romanian-Hungarian relations are very good or that Romanian sovereignism has the support of 25% of society. He added that the circumstances in the region encourage closer interaction between Bulgaria and Romania. However, the challenge in the relationship is to create the conditions for the peoples of the two countries to give impetus to the relationship, to get to know each other, to build trust and thus increase the potential of the relationship. This can be done by supporting the so-called bridges of friendship – people and organisations that are trusted by both countries, and by nature dynamise the relationship between them.
We will talk about Romania’s foreign policy in a geopolitical context and Bulgaria in the next few minutes. We take our cue from the eponymous applied research project of the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project includes two studies on the topic – by the expert from the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Museum of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, chief assistant doctor Aneta Mihailova and by the journalist from the Romanian section of Radio Bulgaria Vladimir Mitev. Vladimir is already our interlocutor. Good evening.
Good evening.
Colleague Mitev, what provoked you to do this research and could you explain to our listeners what characterises Romania’s foreign policy? A country whose political processes you have been following very closely for a very long time?
First of all, the study is a fact because the Diplomatic Institute took the liberty of inviting external authors.
And I personally, seeing this invitation, decided that I had something to contribute – mostly because it seems to me that our understanding of Romania in Bulgarian society in general is a bit outdated or somehow one-sided. There is still an emphasis on this Euro-Atlantic element of Romania, which is, of course, very much present in its foreign policy. But Romania is much more complex than that. We see, for example, that relations with Hungary have been quite good recently. We see the sovereignist trend in Romania. At the moment, perhaps around 25% of Romanian society tends to vote for sovereigntist parties. That is to say, Romania is much more diverse, much more heterogeneous, and we cannot reduce it to one thing when it comes to Romania’s foreign policy either.
Of course, the security aspect is important for any country, whichever it is, and especially when it is in NATO. But I think part of the contribution of this study that I have done is that it also focuses on economic dynamics as a factor. There is a lot of, indeed a lot of Western European foreign investment in Romania, and that allows the country to have very different openness in different directions.
However, where is Bulgaria’s place in Romanian foreign policy? I am asking you because, as far as I am aware, your study is following up this issue. And you know yourself that in Bulgaria we are very often fond of saying that ‘here it is like that, but look, in Romania it is like that’. I mean, Romania is usually a positive example.
I think that Bulgaria’s place in Romanian foreign policy, as well as Romania’s place in Bulgarian foreign policy, has been growing in recent times, and this trend will continue. This has been provoked, of course, to some extent by the war in Ukraine and the challenges that it has posed for us to connect more in our region. We see that the Prime Ministers of Romania, Bulgaria and Greece have very good interaction and are constantly meeting to push forward infrastructure projects and connectivity between their cities and ports.
I think Romania has shown over the last few years that it is very interested in the gas link between Greece and Bulgaria, which is already flowing natural gas to Romania and to Moldova. It has shown an interest in making the Danube navigable and in Bulgaria helping to make the Danube a navigable river throughout the year. That is to say, there is a tendency in Romanian foreign policy to position Bucharest as a local partner of certain Western European visions for the region. In the case of the Danube, this is the Danube Strategy and Austria. In other cases, other partnerships. But this is what I think: the general trend is that Bulgarian-Romanian relations will develop positively and we need to respond to that as a people and as citizens and get to know them better as well.
You have outlined to some extent which are the areas where there is currently established cooperation, but in which other areas can both countries strengthen their cooperation? I am thinking of areas that fall within the area of foreign policy.
We can see that there is cooperation at the level of security experts and in general in the area of defence, which is along the lines of NATO and so on. We see that, economically, trade is quite developed between the two countries, but I think what is lacking or perhaps could be encouraged more by governments is the links between nations, between citizens themselves and between people. I think that is where the positive impetus for change in these relations could actually come from. Because part of the problem is that people do not know each other very well, or they have some stereotypes and prejudices.
Let me remind you that the Romanian section of Radio Bulgaria has existed for just over a year and also for just over a year BTA has opened a correspondent office in Bucharest. But before that there was a more limited flow of information between the two countries and for a long time some old perceptions about the other nation across the river have remained alive, which have been somewhat of a hindrance. And I think that when the ties between people and their ability to create friendships, let’s call it that, across the border, grow, then the potential of the Bulgarian-Romanian relations will become much greater and therefore politicians, diplomats, in general anyone who wants to develop these relations will have greater opportunities.
And I would add to what you said about the media, including the Bulgarian National Radio, of which Radio Bulgaria is a part, that the website which, as far as I know, you still maintain (the Bridge of Friendship – ed.) – is also specialised in making information about life in Romania available and, therefore, everything that happens in Bulgaria, you transmit to the Romanian public.
Yes. In the study, I mention exactly this as a good example, exactly as a sign that countries eventually realise that they need to communicate on some level to their citizens and to the other country and to their citizens about the other country. There is a realisation, obviously, that this relationship needs to move forward and that the old understandings need to be updated and the current picture needs to be seen. But for that to happen – again I quote my research – there is a need for what are called bridges of friendship. These are people or organisations that have the trust of both parties and are those people or organisations. I think they arise somewhat spontaneously, but to the extent that they exist or arise, if they are encouraged, they can transform relations in our region.
That is how we will end. Thank you. The journalist Vladimir Mitev from the Romanian section of Radio Bulgaria was one of the interlocutors. With him we commented on the applied research project of the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Romania’s foreign policy in a geopolitical context and Bulgaria.
Photo: The Bulgarian president Rumen Radev (right) and his Romanian counterpart sign an joint declaration for a strategic partnership between the two countries (source: Romanian presidency)
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