Interview by Ana Kocheva
Q: What are your first impressions of Bulgaria?
A: People seem very pessimistic; they think the transition to democracy is taking too long. As a correspondent I live in Poland and when I compare Bulgaria and Poland I see that despite their shared communist past Bulgaria still has a very long way to go before reaching an acceptable level of progress. All the stories I heard here were about corruption and organized crime.
Q: These negative attitudes are provoked by certain historical circumstances…
A: Yes, this is evident in Poland, where the government controlled everything until the late 1980s just like here. Poles and Bulgarians made the same mistake – they dramatically changed the system and went to extremes, thinking that anything goes, there are no rules and only the fittest survive. I told a person working for the Open Society Foundation yesterday that Sofia is a beautiful, green city compared to Warsaw, which is a jungle of concrete. He replied, “Ten years ago it was greener and more beautiful. Now the mafia built everything up – huge offices, apartment buildings, you name it.”
Q: But this isn’t a post-communist tendency, it is typical of most European countries.
A: Yes, you’re right. I am Belgian, it Belgium we have quaint villages and towns and beautiful natural surroundings. After WWII Belgians amassed great wealth and rapid construction commenced. Now we’re all quite disappointed, we can see it was a huge mistake. The big cities are ugly, there are huge buildings everywhere and we can’t tear them down. It would be too expensive. This is why the government must enforce laws and regulations. You need the government, insofar as it’s not corrupt. But if the government is not fair, you have a big problem. There are no effective laws, no justice.
Q: Can you draw a comparison between Polish and Bulgarian media?
A: I don’t work for the Polish press, but I can say that in Poland everyone is free to write about anything at all. Nobody goes around attacking journalists in Poland, and journalists can be critical and write about all kinds of topics. I don’t remember a journalist getting beaten up because of the articles he wrote. Poland is very progressive in terms of freedom of the press. I admit that coming to Bulgaria, I feel like traveling back in time.прочетете още...
▶Dr. Stefan Appelius, political scientist: Bulgaria needs men like Ognian Stefanov
▶The international economic crisis will not have “tragic” consequences here
▶ G. Ganchev, economist: We’ve heard enough pre-election nonsense about the budget ...
▶Todor Kolev, national cycling coach: We won’t get any medals in London
▶Meglena Plugchieva: If ministers do not dismiss inadequate officials, I demand it
▶Phillip, father of Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher: The English didn’t play as a team
▶PM Sergey Stanishev: Boyko Borisov should start setting the record straight
▶Kiril Hristoskov, expert on antiques: The bill on cultural monuments is a travesty
▶ Mladen Mutafchiyski: Some politicians are going whiter than Michael Jackson for ...
▶Parvanov: If there is evidence of political corruption, it should come out into the open
КОМЕНТАРИ
ФРОГ-КИНО
Малина Стратиева за проблемите с тока по Черноморието, II част
VOICE OF THE FROG
NEWS
POLITICS
ФОТО ТЕМА
-
Димитър Казаков – Нерон
-
Димитър Казаков – Нерон
-
Димитър Казаков – Нерон
-
Тома Трифоновски
-
Тома Трифоновски
търсене
нов коментар