Are Bulgaria and Romania Friends or Rivals?

I got out-questioned today.

For a long time, I’ve lumped Bulgaria and Romania together. Perhaps you, fellow American-European sociogeography enthusiast, do the same. They’re next to each other on the map, they’re in the broader Balkan region but they weren’t part of Yugoslavia, they were behind the Iron Curtain but they held onto their own place on the map and were never technically Soviet republics. Honestly, it’s pretty fair that I lump them together. Especially when you consider that Austria and Hungary once ran a whole empire together, so it’s not like I can throw the Romanians and Bulgarians in with Hungary. They’re their own thing, and one or both is probably a hot vacation destination for American tourists on a budget in 2034.

My question is: Are they friends? Or are they rivals? And it turns out my question has been asked before, because when I started to type, “are bulgaria and romania rivals” into Google, it suggested ‘friends’ instead, and then it hit me with a ‘People Also Ask’:

“Which country is Bulgaria’s best friend?”

Per Wikipedia’s article on the foreign relations of Bulgaria, “Bulgaria’s main allies are Greece and Romania.” But, of course, we have to ask the question the other way. Because it is *awkward* in third grade when people are asked who their best friend is and two kids say the same kid and then the kid who got said says a whole different friend entirely, someone they know from playing at their cousin’s house across town during the summer.

There’s no clear answer.

Novinite Insider, a Bulgarian outlet, says “Romania is Bulgaria’s closest neighbor and friend,” but…best friends? Let’s hear some Romanians say it!

Quora has the question up, and the answers are, to use a phrase, tea.

A user who calls themselves Ion Lacatus and is said to have studied at the University of Bucharest writes, “The only country we never fought with is Serbia. Considering the fact that we’ve been neighbors for 5–600 years that’s quite a record. Moldova doesn’t count as it used to be part of Romania.”

Solid answer, Ion. Good to get ahead of the Moldova question, too, because the next two people both say Moldova (with one throwing France in there to show off how much they know about Napoleon). The fourth? Ana Angel, said to have an MA in linguistics, writes, “There’s a saying that goes ‘Romania only has two good neighbors – the Black Sea and Serbia’. Enough said.”

Ana!!!!!! Anytime someone hits you with “Enough said,” the message has been sent.

Further down, you start getting Bulgaria in the answers, which has to be a relief to the Bulgarians, but it does sound like Romania’s not as into that friendship as Bulgaria is. Drama on the Danube, as they say.

I’m skeptical of the Serbia–Romania friendship, not because I know anything about history between the two countries but because I think “We’ve never fought with them” is both a great and terrible way to define your best friend. It’s hilarious, of course, it’s like if I said the Cubs’ best friend in the National League was the Diamondbacks because I can’t think of something they’ve done that pisses me off, but just because you don’t fight with someone doesn’t make you best friends. (In fact, Romania, some would argue that best friends fight more than mere regular friends, because they care enough about the friendship that they’re willing to let it rip now and then and forest fire out the piled up resentment. Maybe Romania needs to open up about its feelings? Just speculation. It sounds like Bulgaria’s willing to, though. Bulgaria is willing to work on this.) The United States has never, to my knowledge, fought a war with the Bahamas, but I would not call the Bahamas our best friend. We fought multiple wars with the United Kingdom, and now we’re tight. Maybe a better saying than the Black Sea one is that “The best friendships come through historic sociocultural ties and shooting each other with musket balls.” Just putting it out there.

So, I don’t know if Bulgaria and Romania are friends or rivals. My question to Google about them being rivals went mostly unanswered. I think they need to talk. It’s time to define the Romanian/Bulgarian relationship.