Serbia is in a very difficult situation.
Serbia's neighboring country Bulgaria announced that it will prohibit non-American large transport aircraft from entering Serbia through Bulgaria. Since Montenegro became independent in 2006, Serbia has become a landlocked country, and several neighboring countries have joined NATO to be driven by the United States in order to survive. Bulgaria and Serbia have had grudges in history, but if it weren't for the pressure from the United States, Bulgaria would have no reason to be a bad guy.
Among Eastern European countries, Bulgaria is not very eye-catching. In terms of popularity alone, Eastern European countries can be roughly divided into several levels. 1. Russia. 2. Poland and The three Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia , Lithuania are the four anti-Russian frontline countries. Ukraine is famous mainly because of Russia.
3. Serbia (including Kosovo ), Czech Republic and other countries. Bulgaria's reputation may not be as good as Slovakia , Croatia , Albania , which is almost the lowest level of reputation among Eastern European countries.
Perhaps Bulgaria’s most famous opportunity to emerge in the world was the 1994 World Cup. The Bulgarian team, which unexpectedly eliminated the French team in the qualifiers, also unexpectedly reached the semi-finals in the World Cup finals. Stoichkov's fiery temper is world-famous.
The 2004 European Cup in Portugal was the last time the Bulgarian team appeared in a competition. Grouped with Italy, , Sweden, , and Denmark, it became the backdrop for Italy's elimination due to Sweden's 2:2 draw with Denmark. Since then, the Bulgarian team has never had the opportunity to appear in a major competition, so its popularity will naturally not be too high.
Strategically (ZZ), Bulgaria belongs to Eastern Europe, but geographically, Bulgaria belongs to Southeastern European countries, or Balkan Peninsula countries. Bulgaria has four neighboring countries, namely Turkey, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, and borders the Black Sea to the east. Compared with Serbia, a landlocked country, Bulgaria is lucky to be a country on the sea. But Bulgaria, a seaside country, can become a landlocked country at any time as long as Türkiye is not happy.
As we all know, the deep Eurasian interior of the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea , an affiliated sea of the Mediterranean Sea, are separated only by the Black Sea Strait (Bosporus Strait, Sea of Marmara , Dardanelles ).
The problem is that the Black Sea Strait belongs entirely to Türkiye, and Bulgaria has too deep grievances with Türkiye in history. Bulgaria is a small country with an area of about 111,000 square kilometers and a population of just over 6.8 million. Its capital is Sofia. The terrain of Bulgaria is basically high in the west and low in the east. There are Stara Mountains in the northwest, Rhodope Mountains in the southwest, and the Danube River at the border with Romania in the north. The south bank of the river is mostly plains, and the border with the European part of Turkey is also a plain area.
In terms of overall strength, Bulgaria is far inferior to Türkiye. Although Türkiye has long lost the prestige of the Ottoman Turkish Empire , it is still a second-tier power in the world. In terms of comprehensive strength, the United States, Russia and China are the top three, followed by India, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Türkiye, etc. Although Türkiye joins NATO, it has considerable autonomy within NATO.
For their own interests, they sometimes directly disgrace the United States, the leader of the alliance. For Türkiye to dare to be so aggressive, complete control of the Black Sea Strait is one of the important factors.
Bulgaria actually did not have to be subject to Türkiye (controlling the Black Sea Strait) because Bulgaria once owned the Aegean coast. Greece is a small country, but Greece dares to confront its mortal enemy Turkey. One of the important reasons is that Greece is not restricted by the Black Sea Strait. Instead, because it owns most of the islands in the Aegean Sea, Turkey is restricted by Greece.
Bulgaria participated in World War I and World War II . In these two world wars, Bulgaria had a fixed ally - Germany.Bulgaria was on the wrong team and would naturally be severely punished by the victorious country. After the First World War, Bulgaria's original Aegean coastline was taken over by Greece, which is now the northeastern part of Greece.
If Bulgaria still has the Aegean coastline, it can bypass the threat of Turkey. Not only will it have a very large room for maneuver strategically, but it will also be of great benefit to economic development.
Before World War II, King Boris III of Bulgaria Boris III attached great importance to establishing good relations with the powerful Germany. Germany held the Berlin Summer Olympics in August 1936. King Boris went to Berlin in person and slapped the rainbow fart on Germany's Marshal Hitler. Of course, Boris is still treading two boats and still maintains good relations with Britain and France. In the face of Germany's wooing, Bulgaria has always been aloof and does not easily choose sides.
After Germany attacked Poland, it clearly warned Bulgaria in October 1940: You will only be given three days (to join the Axis Powers ), otherwise, there will be consequences. Under tremendous pressure, Bulgaria still did not dare to board the German pirate ship easily. But the Soviet Union had long been eyeing Bulgaria and made a deal with Germany. Bulgaria was classified as the Soviet sphere of influence. Bulgaria believes that a Soviet-style annexation would be too harmful compared to a German-style alliance, and that the lesser of the two evils should be considered. In the end, Bulgaria chose Germany, but Bulgaria still had a backup plan - not to declare war on the Soviet Union. After
followed Germany, Bulgaria discovered that it had been deceived. Germany did not let Bulgaria take advantage. Instead, it became a cheap resource supplier for the German war machine.
didn't get a dime, but instead received a lot of useless notes. When the time came to 1944, Germany's defeat was obvious. Although Bulgaria did not want to get too close to the Soviet Union, it still chose the Soviet Union in order to survive. The Soviet Union has always wanted to gain access to the Aegean Sea. Controlling Bulgaria and getting close to Greece are conducive to this Soviet strategy. After the end of World War II , although Bulgaria did evil things with Germany, the Soviet Union did not slaughter Bulgaria, but only included Bulgaria within its sphere of influence. The Soviet Union did not move at all on the border line drawn by Bulgaria before January 1, 1941. This was a blessing among misfortunes for Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is located in the southeast of the Balkan Peninsula, stuck between Yugoslavia , Greece, and Türkiye. Its strategic location is very important. It's just that after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria "looked west". In the confrontation between NATO and Russia, Bulgaria's importance was obviously less than before.
