Bulgaria's quest for security after the cold War

Abstract : In less than two years after the fall of long- time party boss Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria abandoned its status as the Soviet Union's most loyal ally-' `the sixteenth republic." As of August 1, 1991 Bulgaria became the first and only former Warsaw Pact member to renounce its bilateral friendship and security treaty with the Soviet Union. That step toward national self-assertion reflected steady erosion of the power of the Bulgarian Communist Patty, as well as of Soviet influence. Those developments occurred rapidly, especially in a country long thought condemned to dependence on its "big brother." The movement also had a tentative quality. The democratic opposition that first emerged-unlike in the more developed countries of Eastern Europe-a scant three years earlier, was aware that Bulgaria's newly won democracy and independence were not irreversible. Strong conservative forces threatened their gains internally. Diplomatic and economic isolation in the most unstable corner of Europe following the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and CEMA (the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) held menace from outside.