A large percentage of high-quality domestic goods were shipped abroad in the early 1980s to shrink Bulgaria's hard-currency debt, and the purchase of Western technology was sacrificed for the same reason, crippling technical advancement and disillusioning consumers.

Bulgaria's efforts were squandered to little domestic purpose and against the wrong enemy.

His domestic policy was distinguished by the defeat of terrorist groups sponsored by Russia, the strengthening of the rule of law, and rapid economic and educational growth, leading to progressive social and cultural change, and development of a modern army capable of protecting Bulgaria's independence.

From a political point of view, there is a trade-off between Bulgaria's economic growth and the stability required for early accession to the monetary union.

As prime minister, Zhivkov then held both of Bulgaria's leading political and government posts.

On the other hand, Bulgaria's post-transition political, business, military, academic and artistic elites, as well as Bulgaria's large and active organised crime underworld, comprised almost entirely the scions of Communist eminenti who rose to prominence during Zhivkov's long rule.

On 8 October 1991, ninety-three members of Bulgaria's National Assembly — virtually all of them affiliated with the former Communist Party — asked the constitutional court to declare the MRF unconstitutional citing article 11. 4 of the constitution which explicitly bans political parties " formed on ethnic, racial, and religious basis ".

The Cuman participation in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185 and thereafter brought about basic changes in the political and ethnic sphere of Bulgaria and the Balkans The Cumans were allies with Bulgaria's emperor Kaloyan, who was also descended from the Cumans, in the Bulgarian-Latin Wars.

The party's stance is critical in their perception of an excess of privilege for Bulgaria's ethnic minorities ; additionally, they have accused the entire Bulgarian political establishment of being corrupt, and are opposed to NATO, the Iraq War and closer ties with the USA.

When Zhivkova died in 1981, relations with the West had already been chilled by the Afghanistan issue, but her brief administration of Bulgaria's official cultural life was a successful phase of her father's appeal to Bulgarian national tradition to bind the country together.

Meanwhile, Zhelyu Zhelev, a communist-era dissident from the new democratic party-Union of Democratic Forces, was elected President by the Assembly in 1990, and in 1992 won Bulgaria's first presidential elections and served as president until 1997.

The Serbo-Bulgarian War was the first armed conflict after Bulgaria's liberation.

But it was not a secret that Bulgaria's target was the fulfilment of the never materialized Treaty of San Stefano signed after the Russo-Turkish War, 1877 – 78.

Almost all of Bulgaria's 500, 000-man standing army was positioned against these two countries, on two fronts – western and southern, while the borders with Romania and the Ottoman Empire were left almost unguarded.

Bulgaria's most recent full-scale exercise simulating a foreign invasion was carried out in 2009.

Bulgaria's policy was that the agreement would limit Serbia's access to Macedonia, while at the same time Bulgaria could take as much as its army could regardless of Greek wishes.

Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping Honecker, along with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a " Gang of Four "— a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make necessary reforms.

The initial Treaty of San Stefano was rejected by the Western Great Powers, and the following Treaty of Berlin limited Bulgaria's territories to Moesia and the region of Sofia.

This concession, however, was purely nominal, as Bulgaria's return to the Byzantine rite in 870 had already secured for it an autocephalous church.

Following a large and impressive state funeral at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, where the streets were lined with weeping crowds, the coffin of Tsar Boris III was taken by train to the mountains and buried in Bulgaria's largest and most important monastery, the Rila Monastery.

As a consequence of the invasion of the Soviet Red Army, Bulgaria's government, which was allied with Germany, was overthrown.

Serbia, with its campaign, was a major Balkan Entente Power which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria's capitulation.

Romanos ' rise to power had cut off Simeon I of Bulgaria's plans for a marital alliance with Constantine VII, and Romanos was determined to deny the unpopular concession of imperial recognition to Simeon, which had already toppled two imperial governments.

Atanasoff's first national award for scientific achievements was the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, First Class, Bulgaria's highest scientific honor bestowed to him in 1970, before the 1973 court ruling.

Zita was with Charles when he received the telegram of Bulgaria's collapse.

The only hard evidence published was a discussion between Gorbachev and Bulgaria's Aleksandar Lilov from May 23, 1990 ( after Iliescu's victory in the May 20 elections ) in which Gorbachev says that Iliescu holds a " calculated position ", and that despite sharing common views with Iliescu, Gorbachev wanted to avoid sharing this impression with the public.

The reason was Bulgaria's diplomatic policy of pushing Serbia into an agreement limiting her access to Macedonia, while at the same time refusing any such agreement with Greece.

The lev was introduced as Bulgaria's currency in 1881 with a value equal to the French franc.

On 25 April 2005, when Bulgaria's EU accession treaty was signed, the BNB issued a commemorative coin with the face value of 1. 95583 leva.

For example, in July 1968, one month before the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria's unorthodox, three-tiered pricing system was eliminated.

The Bulgarian Communist Party had dominated the Fatherland Front coalition that took power in 1944, late in World War II, after it led a coup against Bulgaria's tsarist government in conjunction with the Red Army's crossing the border.

This split, which occurred at some point during the Middle Ages, led to the development of Bulgaria's:

Bulgaria's flag is also turned upside down during times of war.

Bulgaria's economic advancement during the era came to an end in the 1980s, and the collapse of the Communist system in Eastern Europe marked a turning point for the country's development.

This revision left large populations of ethnic Bulgarians outside the new country and defined Bulgaria's militaristic approach to foreign affairs and its participation in four wars during the first half of the 20th century.

According to Dr. Marinova-Christidi the main reason for the efforts of Bulgarian people to save the Bulgarian Jews during WWII is Bulgaria's history of “ co-existed for centuries with other religions ”-giving it a unique multi-cultural and multi-ethnic history.

Map of Bulgaria's greatest territorial extent during the reign of Simeon I

Bulgaria's first appearance in a World Cup was the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay, but failed to enter because delay of flights, during typhoon and hurricane storms on the Atlantic.

In alliance with the Bulgarians and Vlachs during the uprising of the brothers Asen and Peter of Tarnovo, the Cumans are believed to have played a significant role in the rebellion's final victory over Byzantium and the restoration of Bulgaria's independence ( 1185 ).

As a result of the extensive programme of forced nationalisation of ethnic minority groups during Bulgaria's socialist rule, Papazov changed his first name to Ivo ( adapted from Ibo, short for Ibrahim ).

The place is best known for the Belene prison ( formerly a concentration camp ) on Belene Island where thousands of innocent Bulgarians found their death during the communist dictature, and as the proposed site of Bulgaria's second nuclear power plant, which has been under construction 7 km east of the town until it was interrupted in 1990 due to the severe economic crisis that followed the fall of communism in the country.

The reign of George Terter I represents a continuation of Bulgaria's precipitous decline during the second half of the 13th century.

At the same time he was clearly forceful and energetic, overcoming and reversing Bulgaria's losses during the uncertainty that preceded his accession, and managing to maintain internal peace and security within Bulgaria during his short reign.