TONKA KOSTADINOVA 60 Years of Diplomatic Relations between Greece and Bulgaria: Challenges and Beneits of the Reconciliation Process Abstract. In 2014, Greece and Bulgaria celebrate the 60 th anniversary of the 1954 restoration of diplomatic relations. The history of the Greek–Bulgarian rapprochement after decades of hostility and national rivalry represents a unique case of postwar recovery and reconciliation, comparable only to the German–French example. Indeed, the course of Greek–Bulgarian relations is particularly interesting because it often transcends the speciic aspects of bilateral developments and takes account of broader geopolitical processes, such as the conlicting uS and Soviet stances on key Cold War issues or the energy rivalry in the post-1989 period. Using the method of diachronic analysis, the article gives an overview of the development of Greek–Bulgarian relations, as it seeks to outline the major achievements of the past and the possible challenges for the future. Tonka Kostadinova is assistant Professor at the National Museum of Military History, Soia. Greek–Bulgarian Relations in Times of Transition, 1954–1974 Greek–Bulgarian relations during the last six decades ofer an interesting precedent in Balkan and European diplomatic history. Although they were “traditional” national rivals and were military and ideological opponents during the Cold War, Greece and Bulgaria managed during this period to overcome the burdensome legacy of the past and establish constructive political, economic, and cultural relations for the irst time in their common history. This article seeks to reveal the major path dependencies in their relations and argues that the foundation for the post-1989 rapprochement and the role that the two countries assumed as partners in the EU was created during the Cold War era. The period between 1954 and 1989 constitutes a speciic “transition” phase that preigured the trajectory of cooperation and the ability to cope smoothly with key chal- lenges after the end of the Cold War, both internal (the fall of the communist regime in Bulgaria) and external (the dissolution of Yugoslavia). The approach Südosteuropa 62 (2014), no. 3, 326-347