Greek-Bulgarian March 2017 _ Relations: Present State and Future Challenges Authors: Yorgos Christidis Ioannis Armakolas Panagiotis Paschalidis This report was made possible through generous funding from RESEARCH REPORT 2 CONTENTS ABOUT THE SOUTH-EAST EUROPE PROGRAMME ................................................................................................................... 5 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 6 PREFACE....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION: HISTORICAL CONTEXT ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Traditional enmity and the gradual rapprochement .......................................................................................................... 8 Greek foreign policy after the end of the Cold War ............................................................................................................. 9 Bulgarian foreign policy after the end of the Cold War ..................................................................................................... 9 1. POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 11 Diplomatic relations ........................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Greece and Bulgaria’s accession to European Union ........................................................................................................ 16 Signing of bilateral agreements .................................................................................................................................................. 18 Greece, Bulgaria and relations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) ......................... 18 Greek and Bulgarian perceptions of FYROM and the Macedonian question .................................................... 18 Greek-Bulgarian cooperation on FYROM within the EU ............................................................................................ 20 2. BILATERAL PROBLEMS AND DISPUTES ................................................................................................................................. 22 Disputes over heritage .................................................................................................................................................................... 22 The return of the “Slavonic-Bulgarian History” to Athos (1998) ........................................................................... 22 The issue of religious relics removed from monasteries in Northern Greece .................................................. 22 Bulgarian archives and documents kept in Greece ...................................................................................................... 24 Water management .......................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Nestos/Mesta ................................................................................................................................................................................ 25 Strymonas/Struma ..................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Evros/Maritza ............................................................................................................................................................................... 27 3. ECONOMY ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 28 Economic relations and foreign investment ......................................................................................................................... 28 The Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (HiPERB) ..................................................... 31 4. ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE .............................................................................................................................................. 33 Energy issues ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 The Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline ......................................................................................................................... 33 Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) ............................................................................................................................... 35 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, Alexandroupolis ........................................................................................... 35 Infrastructure ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 36 The opening of new border crossings ................................................................................................................................ 36 Railways ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 36 5. SOCIETY ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 37 Migration .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 37 National image and stereotypes ................................................................................................................................................. 38 6. EDUCATION AND CULTURE ......................................................................................................................................................... 40 Educational issues and teaching of Greek in Bulgaria ...................................................................................................... 40 3 Teaching of Bulgarian in Greece ................................................................................................................................................. 40 Cultural interaction .......................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Universities and Research Centres ........................................................................................................................................... 41 7. GREEK PUBLIC OPINION ................................................................................................................................................................ 43 8. MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS ......................................................................................................................................................... 48 Representations in Greek media before the economic crisis ........................................................................................ 48 Representations in Greek media since the start of the economic crisis ................................................................... 50 9. IMPACT OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS ON GREECE’S STANDING IN THE REGION .................................................. 53 Overestimated role? ......................................................................................................................................................................... 53 Bulgarian perceptions of the Greek crisis .............................................................................................................................. 53 10. RECENT PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES .............................................................................................................................. 57 The Greek farmers’ protests and the closure of the border crossings ...................................................................... 57 The refugee/migrant crisis and its impact on bilateral relations ............................................................................... 59 CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 61 APPENDIX: GREEK NEWSPAPER ARTICLES USED FOR MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS ANALYSIS ..................... 63 4 ABOUT THE SOUTH-EAST EUROPE PROGRAMME The South-East Europe Programme of the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) was set up in October 2011. Research and policy analysis on Balkan affairs