IWPR Special Report: Europe heals old divide between Bulgaria and Romania

By Albena Shkodrova in Sofia and Marian Chiriac in Bucharest. Both are Programme Directors for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)

More than a decade after the Soviet bloc disintegrated in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania have remained strangers to each other. United by geography, these Balkan neighbours have been divided by almost everything else. Until recently, a legacy of economic and environmental disputes, internal problems and the negative images each country cherished about the other, prevented them from cooperating. But in the last two years, things have changed and there are signs that decades-old quarrels and stereotypes that date back generations are crumbling. Several important joint projects and growing cooperation between civic and business groups are reversing old trends and changing the two nations’ perceptions of each other. There is a long way to go, for millions of Bulgarians and Romanians still view each other through spectacles coloured by historic prejudice. Moreover, recent rows over pollution and energy, in particular, have not been solved entirely. But the pressure of their future joint membership of the European Union as well as their own political and economic interests are bringing the two peoples closer together for first time in a century. ... Full Article