Imagine that July 23 2008 had passed as a dull day in which the European Commission had issued a report praising Bulgaria for its marvellous achievements in fighting organised crime and corruption and reforming its judiciary.
As spokespeople for the EC in Brussels nodded their congratulations to Bulgaria on its myriad successes, the politicians in government in Sofia probably would have been struggling to get the attention of world-weary and cynical journalists to report this good news story.
Bulgarians at the seaside, or wishing they were there, probably would have paid no more attention to a matter of politics that would have been of as little interest to them as many others. Opposition politicians probably would have been sulking quietly and discreetly perusing the jobs pages.
The truth is well known to be otherwise. Hardly a secret because of all the leaks in the run-up to the release of the report, EC condemnation of Bulgarias inadequacies in the key areas that Brussels is monitoring is officially a fact.
Worse, it is clear that, whatever minor changes have been made to the language and content of the report after the draft versions emerged, those who compiled it believe that they will have cause to monitor Bulgaria on these issues for a long time to come. The report also makes clear that Bulgarias fellow EU member states that have lent a helping hand are deeply frustrated by the countrys performance. It is astonishing that the country did not find itself subjected to graver penalties.
It is also astonishing that senior Government figures, while acknowledging the problems, still sought to put the best possible spin on the situation. They could hardly succeed, especially given the opinion polls that show how little faith Bulgarians have in their Government. It is astonishing that some sought to make a big issue of the report being leaked. One would tend to think that a bigger issue is, to highlight just one aspect of the report, that investigators leak confidential material to organised crime figures.
Do people in Government genuinely hope that it will all just blow over and that spin will substitute for action? It is to be hoped that this is not so. The next report is quite certain to be harsher and more inclined to penalise than to be supportive, and there will be even less room for fantasy than now.
