Sofia Embassy cable, Bulgarian CP Politburo Member Lukanov Delivers 'Signal' on Bulgarian Developments and U.S.-Bulgarian Relations

The resignation of long-time communist leader Todor Zhivkov in November 1989 left the future of Bulgarian politics uncertain. The disgruntled communist elites who had usurped the aging leader would now attempt to reform the system without undermining the party. A few days after the coup one of the instigators, Andrej Lukanov, tried to convince the U.S. ambassador in Sofia that this plan was feasible. The ambassador presented a cautiously positive account of the meeting in this November 20 diplomatic cable. Among his concerns was the treatment of the ethnic Turkish community, who since the mid-1980s had been the target of the state's often brutal assimilation campaign. Government pressure in spring 1989 forced thousands of families to flee to neighboring Turkey, a key American ally. Moreover, ethnic and (especially) ecological issues had mobilized independent activism that could counter party interests. Already in October 1989 the independent group Ecoglasnost had damaged the state's reputation by publicizing Bulgaria's appalling environmental record at the international Ecoforum conference in Sofia. Within a few weeks an independent coalition would form to challenge the party's dominance of the reform agenda. In light of the enormous problems and unsettled political scene, the ambassador took seriously Lukanov's ambivalent wait-and-see approach.