Tag: The Balkans

This year, 145 years of diplomatic relations between France and Bulgaria, and the centenary of the French Institute in Sofia, are being celebrated. To mark the occasion, they are holding a series of events and film screenings 21-25 October dedicated to the writer Romain Gary who began his diplomatic career in Sofia, accompanied by his first wife, the journalist and historian, Lesley Blanch. His stay in the Bulgarian capital, where he was a perceptive observer of Soviet totalitarianism, was marked by close surveillance by the intelligence services. His account of this period, recounted in La nuit sera calme, is a source of historical insight into the transformations of this Balkan country.