Българската външна политика в Арабския изток от средата на 70-те до края на 80-те години на XX век
Bulgarian foreign policy in the Arab East from the mid 1970s to late 1980s

Summary/Abstract: For the period from the mid 1970s to the late 1980s Bulgarian export capacity based on export of arms, agricultural products, products of industry, construction of industrial and infrastructure projects, as well as providing specialized labor, were well known in Arabic countries from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. The expansion of economic contacts with Arab East until the mid-1980s supported the stability of the regime in Sofia, its economic and social plans. However, Bulgarian successes were achieved with enormous financial effort. They showed lack of rhythm and were discordant with the estimates of the planning authorities in the country and were heavily dependent on the political line of Moscow, the unpredictable regional conflicts and development of the Cold War in the Middle East. Sofia supported the right of self- development of the Arab countries in the context of Arab-Israeli conflict, the rise of Arab nationalism and decolonization. Bulgarian success in the years after World War II was largely due to these phenomena. However, their specific rhythm and their exhaustion in the late the 1980s, supplemented by economic prostration of Bulgaria, undermined the ability to maintain the existing forms of political ties and economic cooperation in the Arab world.

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