Bulgaria: An Overview

Summary:

After decades of single-party communist rule and a difficult transition period in the 1990s, Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union (EU) in 2007. Bulgaria’s Black Sea location and NATO and EU memberships make it an important U.S. partner. Members of Congress may monitor several issues in Bulgaria with implications for the U.S.-Bulgaria strategic partnership, including energy security, military modernization, building resilience to external authoritarian influence, and combating corruption and organized crime. Prolonged political instability in Bulgaria may have implications for U.S. interests. Bulgaria is scheduled to hold a snap parliamentary election on June 9, 2024—its sixth parliamentary election since April 2021—alongside elections to the European Parliament.