At the end of February 1889, King Milan Obrenovic abducted. The news quickly spread round the European capitals and evoked lively comments everywhere. The minor crown prince Alexander was placed under the supervision of a council of regents, headed by J. Ristic from the Liberal Party. The Russophile Liberal Party led by Pasic formed a cabinet. The contacts with Romania, Greece and Montenegro intensified. A reform in the army started. This caused apprehension of new tensions in South-Eastern Europe. Rumours spread of war preparations in Serbia directed against the Bulgarian state. The report of Minchovich from Belgrade dated March 6, 1889, to the foreign minister Stranski about the coronation of the new Serbian King Alexander Obrenovic greatly dispelled these rumours and gave new hopes for continuation and successful completion of the trade negotiations. “Mr. Gruic expressed a wish the negotiations on the trade agreement to be renewed and said he had written to Danic to invite our government to send its delegates here for the start of negotiations. He assured me that the new government, as the regents’, desire very much the conclusion of such an agreement, not so much for the material as for the moral benefits, and said the government would make any concession for this agreement to be signed.”

The report did not omit the delicate issue for Bulgaria, raised again by Zia Bey: “Concerning the negotiations, they will continue as they started, i.e. between the Serbian and our delegates, without the participation of the Turkish one.”

The reports which the Principality’s foreign ministry received from its newly appointed diplomatic agent in Belgrade Dimitrov about the talks he had with a number of Serbian diplomats and politicians also spoke of a marked interest among the Serbian government circles in enhancing the relations with Bulgaria.

Having just arrived in Belgrade, on May 12, 1890, Dimitrov wrote an official letter to General Gruic, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, requesting him to give him an appointment for presenting his letters of credence as “Bulgarian diplomatic agent with the government of His Majesty Alexander I”.

The newly appointed Bulgarian diplomatic agent was received by Prime Minister Gruic the very same day, about which he wrote in his report of May 12, 1890, to the Bulgarian foreign minister Stranski:

“Today I presented my credentials to the prime minister. At the reception I told him that my master and his government cherish most peace-loving and benevolent feelings towards the government, to which I am accredited, that I am commissioned to work for the enhancement of the friendly relations between the two brotherly peoples and for the success of my mission I shall rely on his kind cooperation.

He answered that he does not doubt the good will of my master and the government I represent and he would do everything to facilitate my mission. Then we talked about our emigrants in Pirot and Nis¤ and the border area inhabitants whose fields are in Serbian territory, and their products on which the Serbian government imposes a tax.

On the first subject I told the minister that it is desirable to give orders to move these emigrants farther away from the border, in compliance with the intergovernmental convention; and on the second – to pass a decision to reduce the products tax on reciprocal basis and thus smooth out forever any hostilities between the border inhabitants and the authorities of the two countries.

About the emigrants he said that some of them worried him, because our government did not permit them to return to Bulgaria, and he will see what can be done with them. On the second subject he said it should be studied well and solved finally.”

At the end of the talks Gruic informed the Bulgarian diplomatic agent that if he wishes the regents are ready to receive him on May 14. Dimitrov accepted the invitation and right after his meeting with the three regents he sent to the Bulgarian government another report, where he again underlined the desire for development of the bilateral relations expressed by his Serbian hosts:

“I have the honour to inform you that today I was received by the three regents. I reiterated to them what I had told General Gruic, the prime minister, and reported to you in my telegram of May 12.

They said they were also inspired by the same peace-loving and benevolent feelings to our government and that my acceptance on their part as agent in their country is a proof of this. They added that before the Russo-Turkish war their government always gave asylum to our Bulgarians, that some youths were educated in their schools, that they were sorry about the Serbo-Bulgarian war, that the government stopped our emigrants from entering our country with tumultuous purposes, that the rumours spread some time ago in Bulgaria about an belligerent attitude of the Serbian government, which allegedly had ulterior motives towards the Bulgarian government, were not true and if Serbia has not recognized today’s situation of Bulgaria it is because, being a small country, it cannot take the initiative on this issue, but once the great powers recognized it they would follow in their steps… In general, the reception the regents gave me was very amiable and cordial.”

P. Dimitrov wound up his report with the assurance of the regents that Serbia was ready to maintain and develop its relations with Bulgaria, towards which other countries were still reserved.

The Bulgarian diplomatic agent also informed of the desire shared by the regents to renew the negotiations for conclusion of a trade agreement, if the Bulgarian government is willing.

“In reply,” Dimitrov wrote, “I thanked them for what the Serbian government has done for us, the Bulgarians, before the Liberation, for having stopped our emigrants from coming into Bulgaria with malevolent intentions, and finally I told them that our government, too, is willing to renew the trade agreement negotiations on the principle of reciprocity.”

The talks went off favourably on the other issues, related to the problems of the border population. Only one of the Bulgarian diplomat’s wishes was not granted right away, and the regents gave their reasons: “When I said I wanted to present myself to His Majesty Alexander I,” he wrote regretfully, “I was told that because he was a minor and had regular classes he could not receive representatives of foreign countries, except on his holidays. This is a general rule, not valid only for the Bulgarian representative. But on the first available occasion, namely in August, the regents said they would present me to His Majesty.”

The Trade Agreement between Bulgaria and Serbia, which was agreed upon in principle as early as 1886, and was often the subject of talks between the diplomats of the two countries, was signed on February 16, 1897. It was ratified on March 12, 1897, and had a term till January 1, 1904. An article was added to this agreement regulating the double-possessed properties along the border between the two countries. With the final protocol the term of the agreement was extended till March 1, 1906. Meanwhile, on August 8, 1902, a special agreement and convention were concluded in Belgrade between Bulgaria and the Serbian Post and Telegraph Administrations.

It should be noted that before Bulgaria declared its independence, in its diplomatic relations with Serbia it did not encounter the difficulties it usually had in its relations with other countries at the time, owing to the tributary status imposed on the Principality by the Berlin Peace Treaty. The Bulgarian diplomatic agents in Belgrade, for example, handed their letters of credence directly to the Serbian King and not to the foreign ministers and were invited to receptions and celebrations along with the diplomatic corpus. The Bulgarian side received this as a sufficient sign of benevolence, recognition and willingness to develop good relations between the two neighborly Slav states.

After the declaration of Bulgaria’s independence on September 22, 1908, by decree of May 21, 1909, the Bulgarian diplomatic agencies were upgraded to legations, and the diplomatic agents to ministers plenipotentiary. The first Bulgarian minister plenipotentiary to Serbia was Andrey Toshev, who presented his letters of credence in Belgrade on June 27, 1909. Soon after the Serbian minister plenipotentiary Svetoslav Simic handed his letters of credence in Sofia, whereby new and broader perspectives were opened for the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

On November 1, 1910, Nedyalko Kolushev presented his letters of credence to the Montenegrin Prince Nikola in his capacity of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. Montenegro did not accredit its diplomatic representative to Bulgaria.

As a result of many diplomatic efforts and meetings, an Agreement for Friendship and Union between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Serbia was signed in Sofia on February 29, 1912. A little later an annex was added to it, followed by a military convention signed in Varna on April 29 the same year. Next month was the ratification of the Trade and Maritime Agreement between Bulgaria and Montenegro, signed in Cetina on May 9, 1909.

Stoyan Raichevsky