Sir,

As a sometime resident and frequent long-term visitor to Bulgaria during the past 19 years, I guess I can lay claim to having learned a little about the place and its people. Further, I have to say that my education has been pushed by my Bulgarian family who have of course, of necessity learned something about what being British and European, is about.

My present visit commenced shortly after Bulgaria’s admittance to the European Union. One might have expected that after the expenditure of all those hundreds of millions of European Union taxpayer’s money, in pre-accession technical assistance over the past 17 years or so, that local mentality and standards of conduct would have improved somewhat - perhaps at least enough to meet EU entry qualification benchmarks.  I have to say I see little evidence of any advance and therefore believe that the other member countries have been extraordinarily generous in letting Bulgaria in.

My views about this poor benighted country do not touch my feelings for my wife, our sons or the wider family. I love them all. And I have great respect and regard for a very few native friends who miraculously, have learned about the outside real world and who are able to be open honest and realistic, when judging where they and their fellow countrymen are, this hot summer of 2007.

I am as ever, a committed and avid Bulgaria-watcher and care enough to want to share my learning with you, whether you are here or abroad, in the hope that I may assist in introducing reality to other thinking minds, those with a genuine interest in working for a better future for Bulgarian children.

Sofia today is not the reasonable living environment it once was. It was always, in my memory, a poor place. It bears no comparison with any of the other European capitals, all of which I am familiar with. It does not have beautiful architecture or maintained streets or beautiful parks. It is significantly poorer following the loss of many intelligent and educated people, who after witnessing the endemic incompetence and criminality under successive national and local governments, saw no future for themselves and voted with their feet.

Sofia is now a desperately under-maintained, polluted and filthy place. The area where I live and stay, is typical. A place where packs of aggressive stray dogs terrorise residents who are daily afraid to leave their homes to go to work or school.

Typically, a lone woman is attacked and injured and if she is lucky, is rescued by strangers and conveyed to one of two emergency centres for stitches, tetanus and rabies jabs (if the serum is in stock) and a taxi home.

If she complains to the municipality, it is “none of their business”, or to the city, they are “not interested”, or there is “no law” covering the protection of citizens’ right “to walk without fear of animal attack in a public place”, and by the way, if you kill or injure such an animal you will be arrested, heavily fined or put in prison.  

This is no fiction but derives from my real daily experience of life, in Buxton, Borovo and Krasno Selo, my locality. I personally know of eight to 10 people who have suffered in this. I just wonder what the deputy mayor is going to say to her electorate and a grieving mother, when her toddler is eaten by half a dozen hungry dogs - in public!   Not her business, perhaps!   

Incidentally, our deputy mayor refused this “interfering foreigner”, the time of day to discuss.

We read a lot in the press about Bulgaria being “the” place to invest and to own a second home. We also read about the violence (rapes and beatings) directed towards visitors (Euronews) at the holiday coast and “local mafia” killings in the street in the capital and elsewhere. The extraordinary and rampant corruption and crime in Government, the Courts and civil service goes un-addressed, unreported and unchallenged.

Reading the international press and talking to EU administrators, I see falling foreign investment and withheld EU funding. Confidence is collapsing. Bulgaria cannot presently demonstrate any capacity to work transparently in open partnership, internally or in the international arena. This does not auger well for the future development of a law-abiding and prosperous, European-standard civil society. None of this is commented on in the press here. There is little evidence that Bulgarians have the motivation, energy or capacity to work for a living, or for the good of their community’s future, as, for example, the citizens of Slovenia, Estonia or Hungary seem able to do. Present Bulgarian culture says - “give us the money, we don’t need advice as we know better than you - and we don’t want outsiders interfering or sharing in our benefits” !
This may seem strange because there is a general belief among Bulgarians in the street, that the EU’s job is to pump in a cash mountain that will solve all problems instantly. No more “Uncle Joe” but, thank God, we now have “Aunty EU”. Such a solution/approach would of course, only featherbed the already rich corrupted politicians and their corrupting friends. It’s just not going to happen !

Sorry to disillusion the rich greedy opportunists, but the people in Moskovska Street and in Brussels who live in the real world, know what the Bulgarian “mafia” game is about. The EU running rule simplistically is “no clear purpose, no honest intent, no performance record - no EU cash”. Tough, because a lot of people in real need will stay in real need, for the foreseeable future, - which means things will get a lot worse for ordinary Bulgarians, before they get better !

Today, Bulgaria received one real benefit from its new membership of the European Union.

The EU is an organisation that has worldwide respect, political weight and it contains a wealth of vision, intellect and competence. It is all about people working together in an organised way towards making a better life, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity, for all citizens.

During the past eight years, two successive Bulgarian Governments had neither the interest, competence nor credibility to resolve the issue of (in my view - the criminal) imprisonment, torture and extortion, affecting the six Bulgarian medics held in Tripoli. During eight years, this outrage was accepted or hidden under the carpet by decision makers in Sofia.

It took an EU initiative, presumably after a period of careful and covert preparation, a mere six months to restore freedom to these poor people. The action was undertaken for the sole benefit of Bulgaria, the prisoners and their families.

It is way past time for Bulgaria to wake up and shape up and begin to perform to the same standards as obtain in the rest of the real civilised European world.

Understand where you are, learn, share and deliver what you sign up to!

Your fellow supporting EU citizens demand nothing less!

Get your act together, people!