Bulgaria Unitary state

History and trends

Bulgaria is a semi-presidential republic. Its constitution was adopted on 12 July 1991.

Northern Thrace (later, the province of Moesia) was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC, before the arrival of the Slavic and Bulgar tribes in the 6th century AD, who forged an alliance to become a dominant force in the Byzantine Empire. The First Bulgarian Empire was formed in the second half of the 6th century AD, and was recognised as a state by Constantinople in 681.

From the 15th to the 19th centuries, Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire. There were sporadic revolts during this period, which saw a population of Turkish descent settle in the country. The nationalist movement grew in the mid-19th century, culminating in the April 1876 uprising.

The state of Bulgaria was reinstated following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, but was abolished again at the 1878 Congress of Berlin, which sparked yet another uprising. In 1879, the Principality of Bulgaria adopted a democratic constitution. It gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1908.

Until 1944, Bulgaria was allied with Germany. In 1946, it became a socialist republic under the influence of the USSR. The fall of the communist regime in 1990 led to the formation of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Bulgaria is a member of NATO and the European Union, but corruption and voter defiance pose a threat to democracy. On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria officially joined the European Union along with Romania.

On 17 September 1991, the local self-government and local administration act amended the constitution. It was subsequently amended on several other occasions (local division act (1995), local elections act (2004), local budget act (1998), and regional development act (1999 and 2004)).

Administrative subdivisions are covered in chapter VII of the constitution of 13 July 1991, entitled “Local self-government and local administration”. The chapter enshrines the existence of the provincial (oblast) and municipal (obchtina) levels, while leaving open the option to create other intermediary levels (e.g. inter-municipal cooperation) subject to the legislature’s approval.

Local level :

Within Bulgaria’s municipalities, each city, town and village is a separate entity, despite the fact the inter-municipalities appear to have existed since the mid-19th century.

Each of the 265 municipalities is led by a mayor and a municipal council, elected by the local population, with its own budget as adopted by the municipal council. Subnational jurisdictions are, however, heavily dependent on central government for funding.

The country also has two NUTS-1 statistical regions and six NUTS-2 statistical regions, plus 5,302 LAU-2 settlements without elected councils.

Pursuant to article 8 of the local self-government and local administration act, the municipality of Sofia is an administrative and territorial unit with regional status. It self-governs the community and applies government policy on development of the capital.

Since 1999, Bulgaria has been subdivided into 28 provinces (oblasti – a term that can be translated as “regions”, “districts” or “provinces”). Each of the 28 provinces is named after its administrative centre and seat of the “provincial governor”, whose role is largely similar to that of the departmental prefect in France.

As such, the provinces are devolved state entities rather than local authorities formed through a process of decentralisation.

The provincial governors are appointed by the national Council of Ministers, reflecting Bulgaria’s highly centralised system of government.