THE CHURCHES “SFÂNTUL PANTELIMON” IN GALAȚI AND “SFÂNTUL PROOROC ILIE” IN BUCHAREST IN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE BULGARIAN AND THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2024, N 1
Spaska SHUMANOVA
Central State Archives, Bulgaria
Abstract: During the Period of Socialism (1944–1989) between the Bulgarian and Romanian Orthodox Churches, two key issues were to be resolved: the establishment of the legal status of Bulgarian Church “Sfântul Pantelimon” in Galați and the provision (until construction) of a church for the Bulgarian community in Bucharest, after the confiscation of the Bulgarian School building and the “St. st. Cyril and Methodius” Church as a result of the new Law on Cults adopted in 1948 by the Romanian state. Finding solutions to these questions depends on the ongoing domestic and foreign political changes in Bulgaria and Romania, which have a direct impact on the relations between the Orthodox Churches. Despite numerous meetings and conversations, both at church and state level, the “Sfântul Pantelimon” Church was taken away from the Bulgarian community and Bulgarian orthodox church, and “Sfântul Prooroc Ilie” Church provided for the temporary use of the Bulgarian inhabitants in Bucharest was also taken away in 2009. In this way, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is left without its representative church in Romania, and the Bulgarians in Romanian capital without their own house of prayer.
Keywords: Orthodox Churches, St. Prophet Iliya, Bucharest, St. Panteleimon, Galats, Bulgaria, Romania, Communism
THE ISSUE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OF THE CITY OF ROUSSE IN THE BULGARIAN-ROMANIAN RELATIONS
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2020, N 4
Spaska SHUMANOVA
Bulgaria
Abstract: The crisis that broke out in the Eastern Bloc in the second half of the 1980s, the foreign- and internaleconomic problems of Bulgaria and Romania, the exhaustion of the mechanisms for their practical solution, the formalization of personal contacts between Todor Zhivkov and Nicolae Ceausescu, influenced the Bulgarian and Romanian diplomacy, which prove incapable of solving the escalating environmental problem of gassing the city of Rousse. For the sake of the socialist solidarity of member-states the Warsaw Treaty Organization and the use of Todor Zhivkov as a “a link” between the USSR and Romania, the problem of the environmental pollution of Rousse by the chemical plant “Verahim” in Giurgiu has been silenced for a whole decade (1981–1991), despite the indisputably proven presence of unacceptable concentrations of chlorine ion, which is harmful to the health and life of the citizens of Rousse. The positive consequence of the bilateral political and diplomatic stalemate, in which the Bulgaria and Romania fall is the emergence of the first public protests, the announcement of the environmental problem in Rousse by the media, and the emergence of the first dissident organization in Sofia – Public Committee for Environmental Protection of the City Rousse (8 March 1988).
Keywords: Romania, Bulgaria, Eastern Bloc, Gassing, Rousse, Ecology, International Relations, Public committee for ecological protection of Rousse
THE BULGARIAN-RUMANIAN RELATIONSHIP (1944–1989) IN CONTEMPORARY BULGARIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2019, N 4
Spaska SHUMANOVA
Abstract: The relationship between Bulgaria and Rumania in the period of socialism between 1944–1989 was marked by the communist ideology and practice, the bloc division of Europe and the place of the two countries in the Eastern bloc as satellites of the USSR. In the contemporary Bulgarian historiography were examined separate issues of the bilateral political, economic and cultural relations. The occasional publications of individual studies and documents cannot build a comprehensive picture of the nature and diversity of the relations between Bulgaria and Romania in the socialistic era. The lack of a detailed case study on this issue has brought to the need for a systematic and comprehensive study.
Keywords: Romania, Bulgaria, Socialist Camp, Eastern Bloc, Policy, Economy, Culture, Historiography, Archives
BULGARIAN-ROMANIAN ECONOMIC RELATIONS (1944-1965)
Etudes balkaniques (Sofia) 2017, N 1
Spaska SHUMANOVA
Abstract: Economic relations were an important part of the cooperation between Bulgaria and Romania in the era of socialism (1944-1989). Bulgaria and Romania signed the first stand-alone bilateral agreement to restore and develop them in 1945 without the mediation of a third party. In the latter half of the 1950s the two neighbouring countries signed the first three-year Agreement for Exchange of Goods and Payments (1954), and starting in the early 1960s their trade relations were governed by long-term (five-year) agreements, the first one of which covered the period 1961-1965.
The economic difficulties stemming from the monetary fluctuations in Romania, the postwar soaring of commodity prices, the failure of both countries to honour their commitments, as well as the unresolved transportation issues qualify the Bulgarian-Romanian trade relations as difficult. Priority went to petroleum products but Romania demonstrated total lack of interest in the Bulgaria agricultural products. The reasons for that were the similar economic profiles and Romania’s focus on the expansion of its domestic production.
The development of the bilateral economic relations was also driven by the parallel resolution of a number of practical issues: the construction of the bridge over the Danube, the arrangements on their rail and ferry connections and the settlement of the border issues.
Keywords: Bulgaria, Romania, Socialism, Economy, Agreements