In the Bulgarian Principality there were very good prerequisites for the development of trade and cultural relations between the two countries. A large part of the intelligentsia, who were the builders of the Bulgarian state after the Liberation, had studied in Belgian universities or higher schools. The basic law of the Bulgarian Principality set up under the Berlin Treaty of 1878 – the Tarnovo Constitution of 1879, was drawn to a great extent after the model of the Belgian constitution and was assessed by contemporaries as one of the most democratic and progressive constitutions in Europe and in the world at this time.

By a letter of December 11, 1879, to the minister of foreign affairs and religious matters, Camille Janssen announced he was appointed consul general of Belgium with jurisdiction over the whole of Bulgaria and requested to be recognised this capacity and rendered the relevant assistance in the execution of his duties.

“I have the honor to inform Your Excellency,” the note read, “that by a decree of September 9, 1878, the King, my august master, entrusted me with the post of Consul General in the Principality of Bulgaria.I enclose my letters of credence and I request Your Excellency to give the necessary orders for my recognition as Consul General and so that I can perform my duties and justify the trust of my King.I also have a letter from my government addressed to His Highness the Prince of Bulgaria and I will appreciate it if Your Excellency secures me an audience with His Highness.Allow me to add that it is a great honor for me to be accredited to the government of His Highness and my every effort will be directed towards the development of the relations between Bulgaria and Belgium.Respectfully yours, Camille Janssen”

Although his title was only consul general, in fact Camille Janssen performed diplomatic functions, which is evident from his correspondence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Religious Matters of the Principality of Bulgaria. The same year (1879) he handed his letters of credence to the Bulgarian Prince Alexander Battenberg who, according to the Bulgarian constitution, is a representative of the Principality in all its foreign relations.

On November 4, 1880, Camille Janssen was appointed diplomatic agent and consul general, which made him equal in rank with the diplomatic representatives of the Great powers in the Principality capital.

In 1883, owing the grown importance of the Black Sea ports for the trade of Bulgaria with Europe, the Belgian consulate in Ruse was relocated in the city of Varna, but several years later it was moved back.

Very soon after the Union of Eastern Rumelia and the Principality of Bulgaria, which took place on September 6, 1885, Belgium opened its consulate in Plovdiv, the second in importance Bulgarian city and former capital of Rumelia. On June 21, 1886, Badjet was appointed Belgian consul in Plovdiv.

The diplomatic contacts between the two countries were very active in 1888, when Bulgaria took part in the International Exhibition in Brussels.

On November 1, 1901, two years after Bulgaria proclaimed its independence (September 22, 1908), Van der Heyde presented his letters of credence to the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand in his capacity of first envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Belgium.

Already in the first years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Belgium the two countries signed a number of documents, agreements and conventions, which speak of the marked desire of their governments to develop these relations, as well as the trade and cultural exchange between the two countries. These are: Postal Convention of 1886; Trade Agreement of 1890; Convention on Extradition, concluded in Sofia on March 15, 1908, ratified on May 14, 1908, etc. Of particular importance for the economic exchange between the two countries had the Trade and Maritime Agreement, concluded in Sofia on August 16, 1908, for a term until February 20, 1912, and ratified by the National Assembly on December 2, 1908. Article 1 of this agreement read: “Between Bulgaria and Belgium there will be complete freedom of trade and navigation. The nationals of either country shall not be taxed for trade or industry in the ports, cities or elsewhere in the other country with duties, patents, or taxes under any name, other or higher than those collected from the local nationals.” Article 5 guaranteed the signatories reciprocally the status of most favored nation in everything concerning trade and industry.

Just over a year after the signing of this major economic agreement, Bulgaria appointed its diplomatic representative to Belgium. The Bulgarian minister plenipotentiary in Paris Dimiter Stanchov became the first Bulgarian minister plenipotentiary in Belgium. He handed his letters of credence to King Albert on March 29, 1910.

For more than 125 years now Bulgaria and Belgium have maintained very close relations – political, trade and economic. Belgium is the fourth largest investor in Bulgaria for 2004, which confirms its interest in the bilateral economic relations. The royal visit on October 14–16, 2003, enhanced the intensive contacts between the two countries, which have a common stake in the European Union.

Stoyan Raichevsky