How many Times were Diplomatic Relations between Russia and Bulgaria Severed
If we look at history, there are not many cases in which relations between Bulgaria and Russia at the state level were as bad as they are at the moment.
Bulgaria's Russian Connection
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Photo by Nadya Kotseva (Sofia Photo Agency)
In this short article I may well be stating the obvious but since the obvious is so blatant, and so painful for millions of Bulgarians in the middle of the winter, and for the Bulgarian economy, which is already suffering enough from the global financial crisis, I believe this is more than justified.
Bulgaria has been without Russian natural gas supplies because of the Russia-Ukraine gas prices dispute for a week now. The country has been running only on its meager gas reserves from its only storage facility at Chiren.
The cool thing about Chiren is that no one seems to know for sure how long its supplies can last. Various experts, officials, and government critics have mentioned periods ranging from several days up to three months; the authorities themselves have repeatedly provided conflicting data about the actual amount of gas available there. Critics claim there had been abuses and shady deals with the fuel from the national reserves.
The Chiren parody, however, is by far not the most striking thing in the whole story. Since a number of European countries are affected by the Russian gas cutoff, pretty much all of them figured out ways to switch suppliers, or to aid one another using up their reserves. Because they can, i.e. they have the pipes. Except for Bulgaria.
The whole world and the Bulgarian citizens finally realized that Bulgaria had only one gas pipe going in - Gazprom's pipe from Russia via the Ukraine. That is it. Bulgaria's gas distribution system is not connected even with its neighboring countries - Greece, Romania, Turkey.
So, other criteria aside, as far as the natural gas network is concerned, Bulgaria is clearly not in the EU. It seems to be located somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Still.
20 years after the so called 1989 Revolution, Bulgaria's economy has only one connection - the Russian natural gas connection, the energy beam of hope radiating from Moscow. And apparently so do the politicians in Sofia.
The absurd situation makes one wonder again and again (as with many other things in Bulgaria) - is this the result of incompetence, or of corruption and venality? Have the Bulgarian leaders in the last 20 years been so stupid, or so subservient to Moscow (despite all flamboyant NATO and EU rhetoric), so as not to even think of building one minor pipeline to Romania or Greece? Bulgaria's neighbor Romania, for example, can get gas from as far away as Norway.
And this applies to all Bulgarian governments since 1989. Not only the former communists but also the former tsar and PM Saxe-Coburg (2001-2005), and the rightist government of PM Ivan Kostov (1997-2001), who was widely known for his unquestionable pro-Western orientation, and for being tough with Russia (...).
The former head of Bulgargaz Vasil Filipov declared Sunday Bulgaria could get gas only from Turkey through the existing, and now empty, Russian pipe. He urged the government to send negotiators to Ankara to literally beg the Turks for help with the gas crisis.
Either way, Bulgaria's situation would be humiliating. No country in United Europe should ever have to beg neither Moscow, nor Ankara, nor someone else for its basic energy needs. In the medium run, it is up to all of the EU-27 to change this.
But in the present situation it is 100% the fault of all Bulgarian governments since 1989, who did not have the will, the courage, the brains, and the integrity to predict such an energy debacle.
To the extent that any former communists in power in Bulgaria since 1989, or other persons with connections to Moscow, who apparently have been OK with Bulgaria having only one pipeline going in, are to blame for this situation, I could say I don't feel too sorry for many of the seniors now freezing in their unheated apartments in the Sofia suburbs.
Many of these have repeatedly voted for the former communists, and have been longing for the times of the Soviet Union. Well, we today are still reaping the benefits of the Soviet era with our only existing Russian connection. I hope for many of them this is a nice reminiscence of some austerity measures they had to experience in their younger years in communist Bulgaria in the 1980s.
But I will go further than that. I don't feel sorry for any of the Bulgarians suffering from the present gas shortage. It is not just the seniors longing for the Soviet Bloc times - all eligible Bulgarian voters bear responsibility for the condition of their nation - at least after 1989.
The only poor creatures I really feel sorry for in the present situation are the animals in the Sofia Zoo. They have no right to vote but they still have to suffer from the effects caused by those voting, and those elected, and all those who were OK with Bulgaria living only with its Russian connection.
Bulgaria has been without Russian natural gas supplies because of the Russia-Ukraine gas prices dispute for a week now. The country has been running only on its meager gas reserves from its only storage facility at Chiren.
The cool thing about Chiren is that no one seems to know for sure how long its supplies can last. Various experts, officials, and government critics have mentioned periods ranging from several days up to three months; the authorities themselves have repeatedly provided conflicting data about the actual amount of gas available there. Critics claim there had been abuses and shady deals with the fuel from the national reserves.
The Chiren parody, however, is by far not the most striking thing in the whole story. Since a number of European countries are affected by the Russian gas cutoff, pretty much all of them figured out ways to switch suppliers, or to aid one another using up their reserves. Because they can, i.e. they have the pipes. Except for Bulgaria.
The whole world and the Bulgarian citizens finally realized that Bulgaria had only one gas pipe going in - Gazprom's pipe from Russia via the Ukraine. That is it. Bulgaria's gas distribution system is not connected even with its neighboring countries - Greece, Romania, Turkey.
So, other criteria aside, as far as the natural gas network is concerned, Bulgaria is clearly not in the EU. It seems to be located somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Still.
20 years after the so called 1989 Revolution, Bulgaria's economy has only one connection - the Russian natural gas connection, the energy beam of hope radiating from Moscow. And apparently so do the politicians in Sofia.
The absurd situation makes one wonder again and again (as with many other things in Bulgaria) - is this the result of incompetence, or of corruption and venality? Have the Bulgarian leaders in the last 20 years been so stupid, or so subservient to Moscow (despite all flamboyant NATO and EU rhetoric), so as not to even think of building one minor pipeline to Romania or Greece? Bulgaria's neighbor Romania, for example, can get gas from as far away as Norway.
And this applies to all Bulgarian governments since 1989. Not only the former communists but also the former tsar and PM Saxe-Coburg (2001-2005), and the rightist government of PM Ivan Kostov (1997-2001), who was widely known for his unquestionable pro-Western orientation, and for being tough with Russia (...).
The former head of Bulgargaz Vasil Filipov declared Sunday Bulgaria could get gas only from Turkey through the existing, and now empty, Russian pipe. He urged the government to send negotiators to Ankara to literally beg the Turks for help with the gas crisis.
Either way, Bulgaria's situation would be humiliating. No country in United Europe should ever have to beg neither Moscow, nor Ankara, nor someone else for its basic energy needs. In the medium run, it is up to all of the EU-27 to change this.
But in the present situation it is 100% the fault of all Bulgarian governments since 1989, who did not have the will, the courage, the brains, and the integrity to predict such an energy debacle.
To the extent that any former communists in power in Bulgaria since 1989, or other persons with connections to Moscow, who apparently have been OK with Bulgaria having only one pipeline going in, are to blame for this situation, I could say I don't feel too sorry for many of the seniors now freezing in their unheated apartments in the Sofia suburbs.
Many of these have repeatedly voted for the former communists, and have been longing for the times of the Soviet Union. Well, we today are still reaping the benefits of the Soviet era with our only existing Russian connection. I hope for many of them this is a nice reminiscence of some austerity measures they had to experience in their younger years in communist Bulgaria in the 1980s.
But I will go further than that. I don't feel sorry for any of the Bulgarians suffering from the present gas shortage. It is not just the seniors longing for the Soviet Bloc times - all eligible Bulgarian voters bear responsibility for the condition of their nation - at least after 1989.
The only poor creatures I really feel sorry for in the present situation are the animals in the Sofia Zoo. They have no right to vote but they still have to suffer from the effects caused by those voting, and those elected, and all those who were OK with Bulgaria living only with its Russian connection.
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