by Jonathan Rickert
Bulgaria today is a parliamentary democracy and EU and NATO member. It maintains friendly, constructive relations with the US. It was not always so, however — as recently as the late 1980s, Bulgaria had a slavishly oligarchic communist regime, was a loyal ally of the Soviet Union, and a Warsaw Pact member.
Living in a Police State
One of the least pleasant aspects of living and working in Bulgaria when I served at the US embassy 1985-1988 was the presence, perhaps even omnipresence, of the secret police (Darzhavna Sigurnost, or DS) and other organs of state security. Though one was always aware of the KGB and Securitate during previous tours in Moscow and Bucharest, those organizations were less visible and more discreet than DS, at least in my personal experience. Their Bulgarian analogues, however, seemed to delight in harassing selected foreigners in their country, or simply in making their presence known.
Most of our brushes, direct and indirect, with DS seemed designed mainly to make us aware that they were always there and watching, with a bit of harassment thrown in for good measure. Moreover, one never really could tell what should be attributed to DS or had some other, less sinister explanation, i.e., someone’s incompetence or pure chance. In the atmosphere of paranoia that life in a police state engendered, official Americans there tended to blame DS for almost any and everything that went wrong or could not be accounted for otherwise.
Welcome to Bulgaria
When my family and I first arrived in Sofia, we stayed temporarily in the apartment of an embassy colleague who was away on leave. One day early on, my wife, Gerd, went for a walk with the children. On returning to the apartment, she found that the front door lock had been tampered with, and she required help to open it. Once inside, she discovered a half-smoked cigarette in the bedroom and that someone had obviously gone through her clothes, though nothing had been taken. Welcome to Bulgaria!
Routine Harassment
Over the next three years we had numerous, mostly nuisance brushes with DS and their henchmen.
While we were away for a weekend and our apartment was locked, someone came in and pulled the plugs on our three freezers and two refrigerators, causing the contents to spoil. For us it was an expensive “prank.”
Occasionally on Saturdays we would drive down to Serres in Northern Greece to shop for fresh produce. At least once we were virtually tailgated by what must have been an unmarked DS vehicle the whole way down to the border. When we reentered Bulgaria a couple of hours later, the same vehicle picked us up and tailed us back to Sofia.
A bus driver for the Anglo-American School who often served as a waiter at official functions, once laid out the cutlery all wrong at the dining table before an important dinner we were hosting. He knew his stuff, so it had to have been done on purpose, or so we assumed.
“Closed” Areas
When I was driving two local employees home after a late party at our apartment, I was stopped by the Militia (police) and questioned as to what I was doing in their part of town (there were no “closed” areas in Sofia). I was allowed to depart only after threatening to report them to the Foreign Ministry, which in fact I did. One time the Militia prevented Gerd from entering our embassy, although she was well known and had all the necessary documentation with her. On an Orthodox Easter Sunday countryside drive, we entered the city of Kardzhali, which only recently had been removed from the Permanently Restricted Area (PRA) or zone that Western foreigners were forbidden to visit. The Militia stopped us and accused us of violating the PRA. When I produced the Bulgarian Government note stating that Kardzhali now was “open,” the Militia claimed that it only applied to the part of town that we had just left. They allowed us to depart but with a strong warning not to come back.
More Serious Incidents
Some colleagues and friends experienced more intrusive or violent harassment.
Small video cameras and microphones were found in several apartments -– though such devices may well have been present in our flat as well, we never looked for nor came upon any.
While one of our communicators and his teenage daughter were away for the weekend, someone entered their locked apartment and destroyed all of her music tape cassettes.
A group of our Marine Guards was attacked and beaten up by a gang of Bulgarian toughs at the Mount Vitosha ski resort, something that could only have happened with Bulgarian government involvement or approval.
The wife of a British businessman who had been watching a video cassette with her children in her apartment stopped halfway through the film to go to bed. When she started up the video the next day, she found that it had been replaced by a porno film.
Finally, our administrative officer, who was of Ukrainian origin, was targeted in an elaborate, well planned recruitment effort that later became the subject of a State Department Diplomatic Security training film. Though it undoubtedly was conducted by the Soviet KGB, it presumably was assisted and supported by DS.
The foregoing incidents give a taste of what it was like to live as an American diplomat in Bulgaria during the waning days of communism. They definitely colored our feelings negatively about a country where it was virtually impossible for us to develop normal relationships with ordinary citizens, despite our best efforts and the fact that we spoke their language. The message was clear -– your embassy is allowed to function here but only on our terms and under our control.
Post-Cold War Bulgaria
Fast forward to August 2003, when I spent three delightful weeks on temporary duty (TDY) at the US embassy in Sofia, filling in as acting deputy chief of mission between the departure of the incumbent and arrival of his successor. None of the constraints that had hampered our tour there were present, or at least visible. I traveled freely within the country, without surveillance, and met with many of the kinds of people who had been “off limits” previously. Small businesses had sprung up everywhere, and the atmosphere on the streets seemed more “normal.”
Had Bulgaria resolved all of its problems after shedding its previous regime? Of course not. Indeed, greater freedom had been accompanied by new problems, such as the appearance of organized crime. Nevertheless, the “new” Bulgaria was a welcome change from the oppressive place where we had spent three years of our life, and it was a pleasure to be able to experience it.
Retired Senior Foreign Service officer Jonathan B. Rickert spent over 35 years of his career in London, Moscow, Vienna, Port of Spain, Sofia, and Bucharest (twice), as well as in Washington. His last two overseas assignments were as deputy chief of mission in Bulgaria and Romania. Mr. Rickert holds a B.A. degree in history from Princeton University and an M.A. in international relations from the George Washington University.