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1946 - Monarchy abolished in referendum and republic declared. Communist Party wins election. Georgi Dimitrov elected as prime minister(18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician. He was the first communist leader of Bulgaria, from 1946 to 1949. Dimitrov led the Communist International from 1934 to 1943.
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In March 1954 Valko Chervenkov (6 September 1900 – 21 October 1980) was a Bulgarian communist politician. He served as leader of the Communist Party between 1949 and 1954, and Prime Minister between 1950 and 1956. His rule was marked by the consolidation of the Stalin model, rapid industrialization, collectivization and large-scale persecution of political opponents.
He was deposed as Party Secretary with the approval of the new leadership in Moscow and replaced by Todor Zhivkov. -
Zhivkov was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the de facto leader of Bulgaria. He remained in position for 35 years, until 1989. His rule marked a period of unprecedented political and economic stability for Bulgaria, marked both by complete submission of Bulgaria to Soviet Union. Within a month of Zhivkov's ouster, Communist rule in Bulgaria had effectively ended, and within nearly a year the People's Republic of Bulgaria had formally ceased to exist.
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1978 - Georgi Markov, a BBC World Service journalist and Bulgarian dissident, dies in London after apparently being injected with poison from the tip of an umbrella.
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1984 - Zhivkov government tries to force Turkish minority to assimilate and take Slavic names. Many resist and in 1989 some 300,000 flee the country.
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1989 - Reforms in the Soviet Union inspire demands for democratization.
Zhivkov ousted. Multiparty system introduced. Opposition Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) formed. -
In February 1990 the Party voluntarily gave up its claim on power monopoly and in June 1990 the first free elections since 1931 were held, won by the Communist Party, ridden of its hardliner wing and renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
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1990 - Economic crisis. Communist Party reinvents itself as Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and wins free parliamentary elections. Petar Mladenov resigns and parliament appoints UDF's Zhelyu Zhelev. BSP government collapses amid mass demonstrations and general strike.
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On July 12th 1991 a new constitution proclaims Bulgaria. Parliamentary republic and provides broad range of freedoms, in which the system of government was fixed as parliamentary republic with a directly elected President and a Prime Minister accountable to the legislature. UDF wins election.
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1992 - Zhelev becomes Bulgaria's first directly-elected president. UDF government resigns. Lyuben Berov heads non-party government. His total duration was 6 years and 68 days.
Todor Zhivkov sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption in office. -
Massive unemployment as uncompetitive industries failed in Bulgaria. The negative reaction against economic reform allowed Zhan Videnov (Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria) of the BSP to take office in 1995. Videnov was very young when he stepped in the PM post and his inability to show political strength and his incompetence was soon acknowledged by people surrounding him. This incompetence and the misguided policies of the Socialist government in all exacerbated the economic conditions.
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1996 - Financial turmoil. Petar Stoyanov (born 25 May 1952) replaces Zhelev as president. UDF political party. Presidential elections were held in Bulgaria on 27 October 1996, with a second round on 3 November. The result was a victory for Petar Stoyanov of the United Democratic Forces. He did not succeed in the next presidential elections after leaving office refrained from politics for a while, but, later became an MP in 2005. Total duration of 5 years.
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In 1997 the BSP government collapsed and the UDF (Union of Democratic Forces) came to power. Unemployment, however, remained high and the electorate became increasingly dissatisfied with both parties.
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Ivan Yordanov Kostov was the 47th Prime Minister of Bulgaria in office from May 1997 to July 2001 and leader of the Union of Democratic Forces between December 1994 and July 2001.The new Democratic government headed by Ivan Kostov enjoyed strong support and moved the Bulgarian economy ahead, but allegations of corruption and inability to cope with some of the serious problems in the country caused frustration.
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Simeon Sakskoburgotski, son of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria serving from 1943 to 1946. Half a century later, he served as prime minister from 2001 to 2005. He formed the National Movement (NDSV) and swept away both major parties in the elections with a landslide victory. Sakskoburgotski followed a strong and strictly pro-western course, as a result of which Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. As well as the economic and political conditions visibly improved.
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Parvanov is a Bulgarian historian and politician who was President of Bulgaria. He was reelected in a landslide victory in 2006, becoming the first Bulgarian president to serve two terms. Parvanov supported Bulgaria's entry into NATO and the European Union. According to Bulgarian law, the president is not allowed to be a member of a political party, thus Parvanov left the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) after his election in 2001. Total durations 10 years!
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Seven new members join NATO - 29 March 2004. On 29 March, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia formally became members of NATO by depositing their instruments of accession with the United States Government.
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2005 August - Socialist Party led by Sergei Stanishev tops the poll in general elections. After weeks of wrangling the main parties sign a coalition deal under which he becomes prime minister.
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2006 December - Bulgarian officials condemn death sentences handed to five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor by a Libyan court. To be shot by a firing squad for deliberately infecting more than 400 children with H.I.V. More than 50 of whom have died. The decision complicates Libya's efforts to improve relations with the West.
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Bulgarian become a part of the European Union in 2007.
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2008 March - European Union freezes some infrastructure subsidies over corruption in the traffic agency.
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2008 April - European Union calls on Bulgaria to take urgent action after two prominent gangland killings, including a senior figure in the nuclear industry. Interior Minister Rumen Petkov resigns over police officers accused of passing state secrets to alleged crime bosses.
Government reshuffled in order to combat organized crime and wave of contract killings. Ambassador to Germany, Meglena Plugchieva, appointed deputy prime minister without portfolio to oversee use of EU funds. -
2008 July - European Commission suspends EU aid worth hundreds of millions of euros after series of reports criticize Bulgarian government for failing to take effective action against corruption and organized crime. 2008 September - European Commission permanently strips Bulgaria of half of the aid frozen in July over what it says is the government's failure to tackle corruption and organized crime.
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Borisov is the second-longest serving Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Borisov was elected Mayor of Sofia in 2004. In December 2005, he was the founder of (GERB). High levels of corruption reports under Borisov. Election fraud and manipulation proven in both locally and for the European Parliament. Threats and attacks against journalists in Bulgaria, made journalism dangerous! Bulgaria is in this place as a result of collusion, corruption and stifling of the media under Borisov.
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2010 January - Boris Tsankov, a prominent crime journalist who specialised in reporting on the mafia in Bulgaria, is shot dead in Sofia.
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2010 July - Former PM Sergei Stanishev is accused of failing to return files containing state secrets relating to security and organised crime after losing the 2009 election, and is charged with mishandling classified documents.
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2010 December - A government-appointed commission finds that 45 senior Bulgarian diplomats were secret service agents during the communist era. France and Germany block Bulgaria from joining the Schengen passport-free zone, saying it still needs to make "irreversible progress" in fight against corruption and organized crime.
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2011 September - Anti-Roma demonstrations in Sofia and elsewhere following the death of a youth who was hit by a van driven by relatives of a Roma kingpin.
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Rosen Asenov Plevneliev (born 14 May 1964) is a Bulgarian politician who was the 4th President of Bulgaria, holding the position from January 2012 to January 2017. He was the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works from July 2009 to September 2011 as part of the cabinet of Boyko Borisov(GERB) Total duration of 5 years.
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2012 January - Bulgaria becomes the second European country after France to ban exploratory drilling for shale gas using the extraction method called "fracking" after an overwhelming parliamentary vote.
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2012 July - A suspected suicide bomber kills five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian driver on a bus in the Black Sea resort of Burgas.
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2013 February - The Bulgarian authorities say the Burgas suicide attack was most likely the work of the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Hezbollah itself denies the allegation. Prime Minister Borisov resigns after 14 people are injured in clashes with police at anti-austerity protests.
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2013 March - After failing to persuade any of the leaders of the main political parties to form a government, President Plevneliev appoints a caretaker cabinet headed by Marin Raikov, the ambassador to France. He is tasked with organizing fresh elections.
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2013 June - Tens of thousands of protestors take to the streets for five days over the appointment of controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski to head the national security agency. Parliament reverses the appointment but anti-government demonstrations continue.
2013 July - Weeks of protests over official corruption culminate in a blockade of parliament and clashes with the police. -
June - Banking crisis. Liquidity shortfalls cause panic and runs on major banks.
July - Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski steps down after little more than a year in office, paving the way for a snap election.
October - An inconclusive early election produces a parliament divided between a record eight parties.
December - Russia scraps plans for South Stream gas pipeline because of EU opposition. The project planned to pump Russian gas across the Black Sea through Bulgaria, bypassing Ukraine. -
Rumen Georgiev Radev (born 18 June 1963) is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who is the current President of Bulgaria since January 22, 2017. Radev previously served as Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. He won the 2016 presidential election, as an independent candidate supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, defeating GERB candidate Tsetska Tsacheva in the second round.
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2018 January - Parliament overturns a presidential veto on anti-corruption legislation, clearing the way for the creation of a special unit to tackle high-level abuse.
