Brussels in Bulgaria

Much ink has been spilled over the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU in 2007, and there are still many questions floating around over the decision. Should they have been admitted, or has the EU bit off more than it can chew in taking on two such poor countries? How can the EU effectively deal with the high level of corruption in the Bulgarian and Romanian governments? And when should the new EU entrants be given the full rights and privileges enjoyed by other EU citizens?

After spending last week in Bulgaria I am perhaps not qualified to offer a solid answer to these questions, but I have come to understand the country much more. For one thing, all this talk about 'Romania and Bulgaria,' as if they were one geopolitical block, seems strange to Bulgarians. When interviewing politicians and NGOs, I would often ask them if the factors they were mentioning in Bulgarian society were present in Romania. They would always respond that they had no idea, and even seemed a bit confused by the question. Though the countries tend to be talked about together now because they entered the EU at the same time with the same set of restrictions, in terms of culture, language and government they're quite different. In fact the photographer in our group was from Romania, and she said she doesn't necessarily feel any kind of strong connection to the country.

The event on Saturday went quite well. In addition to being an EU Debate on the Ground, it was also the official launch of CafeBabel Sofia. The event was hosted by a well-known local radio personality and was in Bulgarian, but the non-Bulgarian journalists had a great simultaneous translator. We had three MEPs there and the Bulgarian Minister for European Affairs, Gergana Grancharova (pictured above left). Essentially it was a debate between EU government officials and the public, designed to foster greater interaction between the European public and Brussels. Coming from Western Europe, it actually seemed to me that Bulgaria has a shockingly high level of interest in EU affairs. The attendees at the event were quite well-informed. Most of the major Bulgarian television networks showed up to film, and it made the nightly news. As I wrote last week, I learned on this trip that three times as many Bulgarians have faith in EU institutions as have faith in the Bulgarian government. This isn't surprising considering the level of dysfunction in the Bulgarian government, but as the MEPs mentioned at the event, the expectations of the Bulgarian public for the EU may need to be ratcheted down quite a bit. After all, the EU can't solve all of Bulgaria's problems, nor is that its intention.

Speaking with the French ambassador to Bulgaria on Friday, I learned this is an increasing concern for Western European nations. The high level of enthusiasm for EU integration in Bulgaria may be flattering for Brussels, but it will liekly lead to inevitable disappointment when the EU is unable to deliver, particularly as the economic crisis hits Bulgaria especially hard. The increasing trend of Bulgarian NGOs and business interests going directly to Brussels to get problems solved, bypassing the national government, is actually a worrying trend, he said. It is the dysfunction of the Bulgarian government that needs to be solved, and if it isn't, it will strengthen the increasingly popular far left and far right. The nationalist, anti-Turkish party Ataka (pictured left), is getting particularly popular, and it's thought that they will gain seats in the June national election as people cast a protest vote against the government.

Having only spent time in Sofia, I can't say I'm qualified to concretely answer any of the questions I posed in the first paragraph after my trip. I can say that while it was a bit rough around the edges, the level of development in Sofia didn't even resemble the post-apocalyptic picture often painted by the British media. As the poorest country in the EU, clearly Bulgaria has a long way to go before it enjoys the same standards of living as its Western counterparts. But at the same time Sofia looked like any other Eastern European capital. We felt perfectly safe walking around on the street at any time of day or night, and the modern conveniences were the same as most other capitals of the East. I'm told that Sofia is extremely different from the rural areas of Bulgaria, but of course that's true for any country.

So all in all it was a very interesting and fun few days, I'm glad I participated in the project. If you're interested in finding out if an EU Debate is coming to your city any time soon, check out the schedule.

Impressions of Sofia

I'm here in Sofia, taking a break at a coffee house in between interviews. So far the trip has been really interesting. My article on vote-buying is shaping up nicely. The political culture here is fascinating. There are something like 400 political parties, which has created a real mess of the government. It would seem they've gone from having too few parties (really only one, the Communist Party) to too many. This has led to widespread dissatisfaction with the political process, so much so that now three times as many Bulgarians say they have faith in EU institutions as say they have faith in their own national government. That's pretty much the reverse of Western European countries. In fact according to the people I've interviewed it's gotten to the point where Bulgarians now see the EU as the real leader of the country, and when NGOs or businesses want something done they bypass the Bulgarian government and go straight to Brussels. But more on that next week.

Sofia itself does remind me a bit of Prague, at least in terms of its eery quietness and the gloomy expressions on everyone's faces. It's interesting how much 50 years of Communism seemed to leave the same effect on such a huge and diverse swath of Europe. Before World War II, the Czechs had little in common with the Bulgarians in terms of their history, other than their shared Slavic ancestry, one being part of the Austrian Empire and the other the Ottoman Empire. Yet now you can observe so much similarity between their behavior and way of life. In my observation the same goes for Hungarians, Romanians, and Lithuanians; it's this sort of post-Warsaw Pact malaise. But you definitely notice it more with the older generation than the younger.

There aren't many tourist attractions in Sofia, really there's only one: The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. And even that, when I went to visit, didn't have any non-religious visitors inside except me (in fact it was nearly empty). I spent a few hours walking around the city yesterday taking photos, and people seemed to be looking at me with bemusement, with my map and my camera in tow.

It's a shame really, because the city is actually thousands of years old. It was one of the first cities in the Roman Empire to adopt Christianity and was an early stronghold for the spreading religion. It was also an important centre for the Byzantine Empire. But the city centre was almost entirely destroyed during World War II, and over it was built a giant grid of characterless straight streets. There's actually nothing here that's much older than 150 years. And as it only became the capital of Bulgaria about a century ago, the government buildings have a rather rushed, characterless quality.

At the same time, the city is a lot of fun. The seven strangers have been having a great time, our Bulgarian hosts have been showing us some amazingly cool bars and restaurants. A bar we went to last night was down in a deep cellar, lit only by candles. Intense!

I'm actually the only Anglophone in the group, but naturally we've been speaking English as the common language between us all. A large portion of us speak French, but not everyone, so we're not using it. Take a note, France. It's a shame though because it takes away so much of the motivation for us Anglophones to learn foreign languages, when our native language allows us to communicate with most everyone we would need to. Still, I've had to remember to switch over to speaking Continental English instead of my normal way of speaking. Ironically, it's easier for everyone else in the group to understand each other speaking English than it is for them to understand me, since I have a tendency to speak too quickly. I need some Continental English lessons.

I'm about to head to the Parliament Building to interview an MP, she seems like she'll be an interesting character. I found some YouTube clips of her kicking up a fuss and yelling in the Parliament chamber. so she should be quite quotable! Then tomorrow we have our EU Debate on the Ground and the launch of CafeBabel Bulgaria. If you're in Sofia, come join us!

Six Strangers in Bulgaria

I'm flying to Sofia, Bulgaria later today to take part in a rather interesting project. CafeBabel, a web site I write for, is sending five journalists and one photographer to live in the city for about a week in order to participate in one of their ongoing EU Debate on the Ground forums. The forums have been taking place once a month in various cities throughout Europe, hosting debates about the EU with the local population as a run-up to the European Parliament elections in June. Several journalists are chosen from various corners of Europe and they assemble in the city, reporting on a specific issue and speaking at the forum. I'll be writing a feature on vote-buying in the country, as well as a second feature looking at how the global economic crisis is likely to effect Bulgaria.

We have quite a diverse group. There will be a Bulgarian from Sofia, a Spaniard living in Berlin, a Romanian living in Paris, an Italian from Turin, a Spaniard living in Paris, and an Italo-American living in Brussels (that's me). None of us know each other, but we'll be staying together in a large hostel room in the center of the city. We'll each be reporting on different issues, but I imagine we'll be swapping observations and ideas throughout the stay.

It should be interesting, it will actually be my first time back in Eastern Europe since I lived in Prague. One thing that's already throwing me is the country's use of the Cyrillic alphabet. It makes it very difficult to locate addresses on Google maps! I have appointments scheduled tomorrow and Friday with various government officials and NGOs, hopefully I've arranged them in some kind of logical order geographically. I learned from reporting in India that in a city with bad traffic, trying to zigzag across town going from interview to interview can quickly spell disaster.

The EU Debate on the Ground panel will take place this weekend. The purpose of the panel is to get a snapshot of the feelings on the ground about the EU, and to analyze those opinions in a way that can be meaningful for the upcoming parliament elections. I'll be particularly curious to hear the impressions of Bulgarians, who were promised much after their entry into the EU two years ago but have seen their economy teeter on the brink of collapse since then as a result of the global economic crisis. After many years of double digit growth in Eastern Europe, the sudden reversal of fortunes could lead Eastern Europeans to be more skeptical about what the EU can do for them. Additionally, Bulgarians were less than impressed with how the EU handled the recent gas crisis in January which left thousands of Bulgarians without heat for several days during a bitter cold snap.

All in all, it should be an enlightening trip.