Entries from SAIS Next Europe tagged with 'Bulgaria'
Bulgaria's 'Batman' Prime Minister
In 2003 California got its Governator. Last weekend, Bulgaria got a hero of its own: Batman was elected the new Prime Minister.
The 'Batman' in question is the former bodyguard Boyko Borisov, who for the past few years served as mayor of Bulgaria's capital and who received the nickname for his love of drama and action. He is known to appear promptly at the scene of any significant event, especially if it might be broadcast by any major media outlet.
It is not yet clear whether the results of the parliamentary elections, announced late on July 5th, are a cause for celebration or mourning. On the one hand, the Socialist government ruling the country for the past four years was finally sidetracked from the parliamentary landscape. On the other hand, Borisov, who emerged as the new Prime Minister with an uncontested majority, has great public appeal and popularity, but has done little to demonstrate his credentials for political leadership.
Where Should the EU End?
The question is not whether the EU will again be ready to expand; it is where the EU ought to end.
In retrospect, the historic European Union expansion of May 2004 carries more than a hint of irony. The accession of eight former communist nations of Central Europe was in many ways a high point for Europe. The EU monitored these countries' transition towards liberal democracy; it influenced their political culture and guided economic transformation.
It wasn't a miracle, as one might mistakenly believe from listening to the European vulgate. But it is safe to say that the EU accompanied a remarkable development. When viewed alongside the quagmire that America was making for itself in Iraq at the time, enlargement became the epitome of Europe's power and of the scale of its ambitions.
Artwork, Toilets, and EU Identity
A large art installation, billed as a collaborative effort between artists from the 27 member states of the European Union to highlight their respective countries, was hung above the entrance to the EU Council headquarters in Brussels this month. But the representations are hardly flattering.
The Netherlands: underwater, with only minarets poking above the waves. France: bearing a sign reading "on strike," stretched across the whole country. Luxembourg: a piece of gold for sale. Sweden: packed into an IKEA box. Romania: a Dracula theme park. Worst of all, Bulgaria: a series of toilets.
Nor is "Entropa" truly what its creators advertised: the work of 27 EU artists, as it was originally sold to both the EU and to the Czech government, which took over the EU's rotating presidency this year. In fact, it is the work of a single Czech artist, David Černý, perhaps best known for putting sculptures of creepy crawling faceless babies on the already weird-looking Žižkov Television Tower in Prague. The other artists don't exist.
In Bulgaria, Out With The Old...
Anyone who has visited Bulgaria before the turn of the century and returns to the country today might be immediately shocked by the sweeping transformation of its architectural landscape. In the capital of Sofia, casinos and new hotels have popped up in the most unusual of places, replacing the city's older historic appeal with the atmosphere of a gambling resort. At the same time, a quick expansion of nightlife to the city's student neighborhood has contributed to escalating incidents in the area (including the murder of a student early last month) and has earned the academic hub the nickname 'Sin City'.
Behind these changes are a serious corruption problem, a dysfunctional legal system and inadequate regulation under the current administration, all of which have led to a blooming of the country's organized crime network. As the New York Times reported last year, that network has also managed to penetrate Bulgaria's ruling elite. In the process, mafia members have been capitalizing on a thriving construction industry, simultaneously using the opportunity to move some of their operations away from the underground world.
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