Bulgaria is now refining the contours of its foreign policy to establish more balance and autonomy. Vice-Prime Minister Ivo Hristov described the phone conversation between President Rumen Radev and Donald Trump as a “new type of direct dialogue between heads of state, without intermediaries.”
Speaking on public TV, Ivo Hristov emphasized the importance of visa issues and sought to break with the approach of the previous government, which he described as an almost automatic acceptance of American requirements. “It wasn’t us who invited the planes to Sofia Airport. And you probably heard Marco Rubio a few days ago, who said the Bulgarian authorities had been great and had said ‘yes,’ without even asking what it was about. These are the types of relationships we inherited,” he said.
According to him, Bulgaria now adopts a balanced and independent diplomacy, engaging on equal terms with Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and Washington, D.C.
Ivo Hristov believes this new approach strengthens the country’s influence on the international stage. Examples highlighted include Sofia’s firm stance in favor of a swift lifting of the visa requirement for the United States, as well as the government’s serious concerns about the Mercosur trade agreement, which could potentially harm the competitiveness of Bulgarian agricultural producers.
Edition: Darina Grigorova Translated Version: Svetlana Satric
