site.btaBulgaria and Finland Celebrate 105 Years of Diplomatic Relations

Bulgaria established diplomatic relations with Finland 105 years ago on August 5.

Initially, diplomatic ties were set up at legation level, according to information from BTA's References Directorate. From their establishment in 1918 until the end of World War II in 1945, the two countries' diplomatic relations were maintained through a Bulgarian minister plenipotentiary in Stockholm, Sweden and his Finnish counterpart in Bucharest, Romania.

Bilateral diplomatic relations gained momentum in 1947 after the signing of post-WW2 peace treaties with Bulgaria and Finland. Ville Niskanen, Finland's Minister Plenipotentiary in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, presented his credentials in Sofia on November 8, 1948, and Naiden Nikolov, Bulgaria's Minister Plenipotentiary in Moscow, USSR, presented his credentials in Helsinki on December 4, 1948.

In 1956, Bulgaria opened its legation in Helsinki, headed by Minister Plenipotentiary Traicho Dobroslavski, who presented his credentials on August 18 of that year. Also in 1956, Finland accredited its minister plenipotentiary in Poland to add Bulgaria to his portfolio. Finland opened its legation in Sofia in 1963.

At the Bulgarian government's proposal, agreement was reached in 1963 to upgrade the two countries' legations in Helsinki and Sofia to the level of embassies. The agreement was made public in a special communique on February 1, 1963. The first Bulgarian ambassador to Finland, Anani Panov (minister plenipotentiary in Finland since 1961), handed his credentials on March 8, 1963. Finnish Ambassador Martti Ingman did the same in Sofia on April 18 of that year.

Bulgaria was among the first countries to recognize Finland's independence, declared in 1917, according to information from the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nowadays, 2,109 Bulgarians reside in Finland. The ABV Bulgarian Sunday School is functioning in the Scandinavian country. The Finnish-Bulgarian Friendship Association celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2022.

Finland is a member of the European Union, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. On April 4, 2023, Finland became the 31st member of NATO.

Finland is an important political and economic partner to Bulgaria. The Foreign Ministry in Sofia says the two countries need to develop further their trade and economic relations and to promote partnerships in areas of shared interest, such as education, electronic governance and cybersecurity.

Bulgaria is expected to join the Helsinki-headquartered European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE) officially in September 2023. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel will visit the institution to submit a notification of Bulgaria's accession to the founding memorandum, thus completing the official accession procedure.

The decision for Bulgaria to apply for Hybrid CoE membership was made in late April 2023 by the then caretaker government in Sofia. Bulgaria is the only EU member state not represented in the organization. The nation's interest in joining it increased as a result of the changing European security architecture. The Hybrid CoE Steering Board unanimously approved the country's membership bid on May 26, 2023.