site.btaJuly 23, 1879: Bulgaria and Britain Establish Diplomatic Relations

Diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Britain were established on July 23, 1879. On this date, the British diplomatic agent and consul general in Sofia, Lord William Palgrave, presented his credentials to Bulgaria's Prince Alexander of Battenberg. 

The first steps towards opening a Bulgarian diplomatic agency in London date from 1898. It opened on September 27, 1903, with Dimitar Tsokov as Bulgaria's first diplomatic agent.

Following Bulgaria's Declaration of Independence on September 22, 1908, and its recognition by the Great Powers, including Britain, on March 14, 1909, the diplomatic agencies in London and Sofia were upgraded to legations, and the diplomatic representatives were upgraded to ministers plenipotentiary.

After the end of World War I and the signing of the Treaty of Neuilly in November 1919, Britain sent a high commissioner to Bulgaria until diplomatic relations were restored.

During World War II, Bulgaria's diplomatic relations with Britain were severed again. On March 1, 1941, Bulgaria joined the Tripartite Pact. In a letter dated March 4, 1941, Minister Plenipotentiary George Rendel announced that Britain was breaking diplomatic relations and extending its economic blockade over Bulgaria.

On December 13, 1941, the following government declaration, approved by the National Assembly, was published by BTA: "Since Germany and Italy have declared a state of war with the United States on account of the offensive acts committed by that country in recent months, the Bulgarian Government, in order to fulfil its obligations under Article 3 of the Tripartite Pact, decided on December 12, 1941, to break its diplomatic relations with the US and to declare a state of war with it and with its ally England."

With the consent of the Bulgarian government, the Swiss Legation in Sofia was charged with protecting the interests of the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Union of South Africa in Bulgaria from December 25, 1941.

After the Armistice with the USSR, the US and Britain of October 28, 1944, Houston-Boswell was appointed British political representative in Bulgaria on November 3, 1944. He was replaced by John Bennett in 1947.

From March 31, 1945, the British Embassy took over from the Swiss Legation the protection of British subjects in Bulgaria, as well as of the subjects of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

After the Peace Treaty with Bulgaria was signed on February 10, 1947, Richard Bartram Boyd Tollinton, First Secretary and Consul on the Staff of the British Political Representative in Bulgaria, handed the government a note informing it that it was recognized de jure by Britain.

In 1963, the governments of the People's Republic of Bulgaria and of the UK agreed that their legations would be elevated to the rank of embassies.

Since 1989 there have been no changes in diplomatic relations, the rank of the representations and of the diplomatic representatives of Bulgaria and Britain.

Nathaniel Copsey will succeed British Ambassador Rob Dixon in August 2024.