site.btaBulgarian Diplomatic Service Is Established 146 Years Ago

July 19 marks the 146th anniversary of the establishment of the Bulgarian diplomatic service.

On July 19, 1879, Prince Alexander Battenberg issued a decree appointing the first Bulgarian diplomatic agents abroad.

Three prominent Bulgarians, Dragan Tsankov, Evlogi Georgiev and Dimitar Kirovich, were sent to represent Bulgaria in Turkey, Romania and Serbia.

After the Liberation in 1878, an Office for General Affairs and Diplomatic Relations was established under the administration of the Provisional Russian Government in Bulgaria, headed by Prince Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov. After the adoption of the Tarnovo Constitution on May 25, 1879, it was renamed Department of Foreign Affairs. In addition to maintaining relations with foreign representatives in the Principality, part of its duties was to prepare Bulgarian staff for work in the future Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Bulgaria.

On April 17, 1879, the First Grand National Assembly was convened and Alexander Battenberg was elected Prince of the Principality of Bulgaria. On July 5, the first Bulgarian government headed by Todor Burmov was formed. By Decree 1 of the same day, Marko Balabanov was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Religious Denominations. In Sofia, declared as capital of the Principality, foreign diplomatic representatives - consuls of the Great Powers presented their credentials. They were called diplomatic agents and consuls general.

On July 17, 1879, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established (by Decree № 23) as a central state institution responsible for organizing, leading and conducting the foreign policy of Bulgaria through diplomatic missions abroad (agencies, consulates, legations).

On the eve of World War TWO, Bulgaria maintained diplomatic relations with 32 countries. By 1979, that number had grown to 109, and by 1993 it had expanded to 142.

Modern diplomatic relations are governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), which Bulgaria ratified on October 19, 1967, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), ratified on May 25, 1989.

Since 1999, July 19 has been celebrated as a professional holiday of the Bulgarian diplomatic service.