site.btaBulgaria, Vietnam Mark 75 Years of Diplomatic Relations at Legation Level

On February 8, Bulgaria and Vietnam mark 75 years of diplomatic relations at the legation level. On November 25, 1956, the relations between the two countries were elevated to the rank of embassies, according to information from BTA’s archives.

Under an intergovernmental agreement from 1980, over a ten-year period, 35,000 Vietnamese citizens worked in Bulgaria, and some 5,000 completed higher education in this country. Many of these graduates later took on key positions in business and state administration in Vietnam, forming a strong foundation for further strengthening bilateral relations. Currently, around 1,200 Vietnamese nationals live and work in Bulgaria.

At end-November 2024, a delegation led by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev visited Vietnam. Bulgaria was the first country in Southeast Europe to introduce and promote the Vietnamese language and culture, Radev noted following his meeting with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong. After a 40-year hiatus, Bulgaria is also resuming the training of Vietnamese military pilots, he highlighted.

Vietnamese cadets are currently undergoing training at the Georgi Benkovski Air Force Academy in Dolna Mitropoliya (North Bulgaria). In 2025, they will study the Bulgarian language before beginning their flight training, said the head of the academy, Brigadier General Yuliyan Radoyski. "We are reviving a 40-year-old tradition when many Vietnamese cadets were trained at what was then the Higher People's Air Force School. We are starting with five cadets, but we hope their number will increase in the coming years," he commented in early January.