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Bulgaria has urged the United States to lift visa requirements for its citizens, as Sofia seeks to place itself on equal footing with most other European Union member states whose nationals can already travel to America without a visa.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Wednesday that he had raised the matter directly with US President Donald Trump during a phone conversation, calling for urgent consideration of Bulgaria’s request. According to Reuters, Radev said he had “insistently” brought up the issue of visa-free travel for Bulgarian nationals before chairing a cabinet meeting in Sofia.
“The campaign also follows Bulgaria’s full entry into the Schengen Area on 1 January 2025”
The request comes at a sensitive moment in Bulgaria’s relationship with Washington. Bulgaria, a NATO member, is currently hosting US military aircraft in its capital, Sofia. More than a dozen American aircraft have reportedly been authorised to transit Bulgarian airspace and land in Sofia for refuelling until the end of May. Radev also said he had spoken with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and expected a request for US military aircraft to remain in Sofia beyond that date.
For Bulgaria, admission to the US Visa Waiver Programme would carry both symbolic and practical weight. The programme allows most citizens of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without first obtaining a visa, provided they secure ESTA authorisation and meet other requirements.
However, entry into the programme is not automatic. US rules require applicant countries to meet several security and migration-related conditions, including enhanced law-enforcement data sharing, e-passports, strong document security standards and a visitor visa refusal rate below 3% for initial designation.
Bulgaria has made progress but has not yet reached that threshold. Its foreign ministry said in January that the refusal rate for US tourist and business visas fell to 5.11% in the 2025 fiscal year, its lowest level in nearly two decades.
The campaign also follows Bulgaria’s full entry into the Schengen Area on 1 January 2025, after land border checks with other Schengen countries were lifted.
Radev, who won a landslide parliamentary election victory on 19 April, has faced criticism from some opponents over a campaign seen as sympathetic to Moscow. He rejects claims that he is pro-Russian and insists Bulgaria will remain on a European path.
