Living on the Periphery

This article discusses Bulgaria’s geopolitical predicament and its impact on the country’s political development since 1989. It looks at Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and nato in the 1990s and 2000s, its role in both institutions, as well as at its relations with Russia and Turkey. The article contends that the state’s position – on the margins of the European institutional and spatial order – informs its response to major international players. At the same time, the article also finds that, rather than being simply a target of external action, Bulgaria has exercised a fair amount of agency in navigating politics at the regional and international level.