This exhibition is dedicated to the regional problems of rural areas in Bulgaria. The European dimensions of the territorial development of rural areas and their role for the socio-economic development of the population are successively considered. Gradually, the focus shifts to Bulgaria, addressing the main challenges facing rural areas. The territorial problems in front of the settlements, the emerging demographic problems accompanied by internal migrations, are presented. An analysis was made about the problems with employment, the deteriorated social infrastructure, and other problems, which show the real picture of the rural areas in Bulgaria. The overall analysis reveals the needs of rural areas and the state of the population in it. Recommendations are proposed for the implementation of targeted policies for regional rural development.

Purpose. The purpose of the research is to determine the degree of implementation of specific regional policies in rural areas in the context of Bulgaria’s integration into the European Union through the prospects of the changing economic situation and new trends in the implementation of regional policy. Methodology / approach. The focus of the research is the need for a working regional policy that gives importance to the development of rural areas and influences the demographic and socio-economic processes in Bulgaria. The study is defined by comparative analysis, reference to expert assessment, use of statistical data, and analysis of strategic documents and programs related to regional development. Results. This research has shown that the applied regional development policies within the European Union have partial success. At the same time, the problems and emerging deficits are successfully defined, but it is more difficult to find optimal solutions that can be applied in more than one municipality. In this direction, regional policy has its achievements in its development, but new solutions are still being sought for several spatial and territorial problems in connection with integration into a common European market. This means a comprehensive process of functional impacts in the socio-economic development of nearly 281 regions. In Bulgaria, the situation is even more complicated, because it is necessary to have a dual approach in regional politics. On the one hand, the development of the most urbanised regions, and on the other hand, the development of the rural areas, which are decisive for the development of the greater part of the territory of Bulgaria. Originality / scientific novelty. The regional development policy carried out in the years after 2007 has a static and spontaneous character, the new approach of the measures and programs after 2023 are based on new concepts and elements in line with information technologies, development of intelligent systems, economic connectivity to overcome the backward development of rural areas. New approaches and moments are proposed in the construction of a regional policy, which has a new framework and provisions for the development of the European economic space. In this direction, the need for expert decisions related to the management of regional development comes to the fore. Practical value / implications. It is necessary to make regional development a national priority. In addition, governments should facilitate access to young people and medium-sized businesses for the use of inputs and the promotion of projects. Access to financing, strategic, and planning activities, which have their characteristics at different levels, must be further developed.

In recent years, the digitalization of the economy and the increasing demand for resources have created several challenges for developing countries, their regions, and urban agglomerations. Therefore, many governments have undertaken significant changes in the policies applied to developing regions and cities. These new concepts are aimed at gradually building sustainable and smart cities. This is the response of countries to new challenges such as the digital environment, combating climate change, and maintaining favorable living conditions due to the strong environmental and socio-economic degradation. In this regard, the authors set as their main research objective to analyze and assess the sustainability of cities and the surrounding territory by implementing sustainable development policies at all levels. A major task and difficulty for the authors is to build upon and refine a model that can be used to assess sustainable and smart cities. In this paper, the authors propose an approach to studying sustainable cities, thus evaluating the effects of policies implemented in this field. The model includes the main groups of indicators that are used to analyze the sustainable and smart development of municipalities in the Northeast region of Bulgaria. Based on these indicators, data is collected, and processed, and comparative and statistical analysis is carried out to assess their sustainability and intelligence. The authors reach important conclusions such as an unsatisfactory level of sustainable and intelligent development, although the environment and conditions at the national level are favorable. In fact, in Bulgaria, based on the assessment of the studied municipalities in the Northeast region, it is clear that we cannot talk about sustainable cities because Bulgarian municipalities are still at the beginning of this development path.

The Black Sea region is an economic, trade, transport, energy, geostrategic and political crossroads. The Black Sea is not only an external border of the EU but also a strategic European macro-region that needs to be integrated into the European economy and market. Over the decades, several initiatives have been organized to satisfy the interests of global and regional players in order to improve the economic, environmental, social, and transport situation, including connectivity through the construction of strategic transport infrastructure (regional and interregional). Such initiatives include the Organization for Black Sea Economic Cooperation; the European Union's policies related to the development of the region as an external border, the Three Seas, and individual country strategies and policies. In fact, to a large extent, all these initiatives and policies aim at stability, security, and economic and social development of the region while protecting the environment. The analysis of the policies so far leads to the conclusion that a high degree of coherence, coordination, and implementation of a strategic approach to solving regional problems and creating integrity, connectivity, and regional coherence in the context of European integration has not been achieved so far. The focus of our study is the Black Sea municipalities. The aim of our presentation is to outline the necessary levels of regional connectivity and investment policies that can be important for the overall sustainable development of our coast in the context of European integration. In this respect, small agglomeration areas have spatially formed from north to south by 2021. This paper focuses on regional connectivity and investment policies in the Bulgarian Black Sea region, outlining an important range of issues related to its development. The present presentation provides an overview of the Black Sea coast by highlighting the common socio-economic characteristics in its spatial development.  Relevant conclusions and recommendations for the development of the region are drawn. The scientific results of the study are related to some general conclusions on how Black Sea European integration, connectivity, and overcoming territorial disparities can be achieved. First, there is a need for a new approach to long-term planning in the field of strategic transport infrastructure and regional development. Secondly, there is a need to consider the idea of developing a Strategy for the Black Sea Region based on integrated territorial investments, the development of agglomerations of municipalities, and improved connectivity. Thirdly, it is necessary to establish a Black Sea operational program.

This study aims to identify the main challenges facing the modelling of indicators for monitoring and evaluation of regional rural development in Bulgaria. The main prerequisites and assumptions for objective definition of reliable indicators for studying the processes of regional rural development are formulated. An overview is made of the existing normative documents that regulate the creation and use of indicators for the diagnosis of regional rural development and that are used by the European Commission for measuring certain processes in the regional development of rural agriculture. The paper concludes by proposing an approach for developing a grounded system of indicators for the analysis and evaluation of regional rural development that respects the principles of democratic and equitable participation of stakeholders in this process.

This article is devoted to the medium-sized municipalities of Eastern Bulgaria, which play an important role in forming the backbone of the Bulgarian regional economy in the context of the ongoing processes of transformation, optimization, structuring, and integration of Bulgarian society into the European Union. Thus, the study shows the extent to which these municipalities can play a strategic role in the systematization of regional development, and hence the formatting of a new geo-economic model of the functioning of the Bulgarian socio-economic space. Relevant comparisons, assessments, and analyses are made of medium-sized municipalities, which have a role to play in supporting large municipalities while simultaneously playing a pulling role towards smaller municipalities. Recommendations are drawn for modeling a new socio-economic development of the national territory from a pan-European perspective.