Playing the Eu: The Logic of Mythmaking in Bulgaria's Foreign Policy toward Central Asia

This essay examines the domestic logic informing the creation of Bulgaria's foreign policy. It contextualizes inferences made from Bulgaria's diplomatic attempt to “play the EU” during the visit by the Bulgarian minister of foreign affairs to Central Asia in September 2007. Inferences of the national narratives of Bulgaria's international involvement are contextualized to suggest that domestically the Europeanization of Bulgarian foreign policy has been preoccupied with negotiating the conflict between state and nation. A report on Central Asia indicates that the logic of mythmaking informs the domestic articulation of the foreign policy stance coming from Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, not only toward neighboring countries (where it might be expected, as has been well documented) but also toward regions that are not geographically proximate. Inferences are contextualized by the national narratives of Bulgaria's international involvement. Such positions suggest that domestically the Europeanization of Bulgarian foreign policy has been preoccupied with negotiating conflict between state and nation.