Apparently, today is a sad day for British politics. That is how Sir Robert Atkins referred to the British National Party's (BNP) success at the EU elections.
Why so? Because the BNP is a far-right party with no non-white members. It won two seats in the EU Parliament at an election whose preliminary figures suggest the lowest turnout ever. In other words, the small percentage of people who cast their votes today supported the BNP's extremism. Wait, that sounds familiar.
The National Union Attack, the far-right party in Bulgaria, has been winning a big percentage of the popular vote. It has openly expressed itself against the rights of Roma minorities. According to Novinite Ataka holds three seats in the 2009 EU Parliament with three far-right deputies elected as MEPs.
Interestingly enough, the 2009 EU elections saw great gains in far-right votes across Europe. According to the Telegraph centre-Right parties constitute the biggest group holding 276 seats out of 736 in the European Parliament. It wasn't just the U.K. and Bulgaria. It was anti-immigrant and far-right groups from the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Slovakia and Finland.
Not sure about the U.K., but could it be a sad day for EU politics?
Showing posts with label Bulgaria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bulgaria. Show all posts
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Auf der anderen Seite
Turkey and the EU--an inexhaustible topic these days. It has started a conversation on which Europe cannot seem to agree. While European nations are still discussing the circumstances around Turkey's potential accession to the European Union, radical Bulgarian politicians already expressed their strong opposition.
In a recent interview Nikola Rachev argued that the Turkish values and religious views are completely incompatible with the European ones. Although 25-year-old Rachev is a student at Sofia's Medical University and speaks three foreign languages, his argument is hardly the most convincing for a well-educated young individual.
Turkey is a modern secular democracy that has been developing at a fast pace. It will, undoubtedly, contribute a diverse perspective to the established EU mosaic. After all, one of the EU's goals is to help make different cultures and values compatible with one another.
Moreover, EU support will mitigate Turkey's political persecutions. The award-winning Auf Der Anderen Seite clearly reveals the need for such type of implementations.
Turkey and the EU--will we exhaust this topic by the next round of EU accession talks?
In a recent interview Nikola Rachev argued that the Turkish values and religious views are completely incompatible with the European ones. Although 25-year-old Rachev is a student at Sofia's Medical University and speaks three foreign languages, his argument is hardly the most convincing for a well-educated young individual.
Turkey is a modern secular democracy that has been developing at a fast pace. It will, undoubtedly, contribute a diverse perspective to the established EU mosaic. After all, one of the EU's goals is to help make different cultures and values compatible with one another.
Moreover, EU support will mitigate Turkey's political persecutions. The award-winning Auf Der Anderen Seite clearly reveals the need for such type of implementations.
Turkey and the EU--will we exhaust this topic by the next round of EU accession talks?
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Really? We don't need no education?
A couple of days ago I had a dream in which I owned a school in Varna. I had hired the brightest international professors to teach. My students were occupied with various extra-curricular activities. It felt great until I woke up in the morning and checked my e-mail.
My friend had forwarded me a link to a YouTube video of Bulgarian high school students in an English class from March 2008. They were yelling, insulting and even beating their female teacher. They were, what seemed to be, celebrating the cultural decadence and lack of values of their generation. The video was more than shocking.
I browsed through YouTube only to find an abundance of similar videos. During high school classes, students were demonstratively talking on the phone, dancing and playing games. By the teachers' faces, I could see this was the routine and not an exception.
I went back in time to remember my personal experiences in high school. Yes, students were chatting, passing notes or eating in class. Yes, they were napping, arriving late or leaving early without any valid excuses. Yet to me it seemed they were not paying attention in a respectful manner.
The student behavior that I saw online, however, exceeds all norms. After watching the video, I instantly put the blame on the students. Then, I decided, it was the home environment that played a major role in shaping such identities. Parents, who work until late at night (or even abroad) to provide for their families, don't exactly have the chance to be role models. More often than not, what they bring home is bitterness and anger. So, when it comes down to it, the governmental inefficiency is to blame the most for the current state of the next generation of young people in Bulgaria.
Naturally, this is no surprise for anyone remotely familiar with the Bulgarian government. But what I, personally, found surprising in my realization was its possible universality. I can easily picture the same situation taking place in other countries in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Another YouTube browsing and I discovered similar aggressive and degrading behaviors in schools in Romania, Russia, Serbia and Greece.
The implications of a such broader trend are truly scary. They even make me dream of not getting into academia but in politics.
My friend had forwarded me a link to a YouTube video of Bulgarian high school students in an English class from March 2008. They were yelling, insulting and even beating their female teacher. They were, what seemed to be, celebrating the cultural decadence and lack of values of their generation. The video was more than shocking.
I browsed through YouTube only to find an abundance of similar videos. During high school classes, students were demonstratively talking on the phone, dancing and playing games. By the teachers' faces, I could see this was the routine and not an exception.
I went back in time to remember my personal experiences in high school. Yes, students were chatting, passing notes or eating in class. Yes, they were napping, arriving late or leaving early without any valid excuses. Yet to me it seemed they were not paying attention in a respectful manner.
The student behavior that I saw online, however, exceeds all norms. After watching the video, I instantly put the blame on the students. Then, I decided, it was the home environment that played a major role in shaping such identities. Parents, who work until late at night (or even abroad) to provide for their families, don't exactly have the chance to be role models. More often than not, what they bring home is bitterness and anger. So, when it comes down to it, the governmental inefficiency is to blame the most for the current state of the next generation of young people in Bulgaria.
Naturally, this is no surprise for anyone remotely familiar with the Bulgarian government. But what I, personally, found surprising in my realization was its possible universality. I can easily picture the same situation taking place in other countries in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Another YouTube browsing and I discovered similar aggressive and degrading behaviors in schools in Romania, Russia, Serbia and Greece.
The implications of a such broader trend are truly scary. They even make me dream of not getting into academia but in politics.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Valentine to my grandfather
When Danielle, my French-Canadian roommate from college, came to visit me in Bulgaria for the winter holidays, I took her to the countryside to visit the village where my grandfather lives. He was excited to meet "a real American." As soon as we got off my father's white van to enter the house backyard, my grandfather approached Danielle with shaking hands, hugged her with a wide smile and kept petting her on the shoulder.
This scene well epitomizes my grandfather's character. He, like many old people in Bulgaria, does not believe in personal space and life without spontaneous affection. He, unlike many old people in Bulgaria, does not understand village gossip or intrusion in the family matters of other people. I would like to think that I inherited these traits from him.
My grandfather loves talking to his domestic animals. He tends to choose hard topics, too. Born in 1923, he feels especially passionate about historical and political events during the Second World War and the Cold War. I often think that if he had the chance to receive a good education, he would have become an excellent historian. But more often than not, he will just think aloud about the pursuit of happiness in family life. Sheep and goats stare him back with their humid eyes when he pours out his soul.
I called my grandfather tonight. Every time I call him, my eyes get teary from my physical inability to be in the countryside with him, hold his shaking hands and let him pour out his soul to me.
This scene well epitomizes my grandfather's character. He, like many old people in Bulgaria, does not believe in personal space and life without spontaneous affection. He, unlike many old people in Bulgaria, does not understand village gossip or intrusion in the family matters of other people. I would like to think that I inherited these traits from him.
My grandfather loves talking to his domestic animals. He tends to choose hard topics, too. Born in 1923, he feels especially passionate about historical and political events during the Second World War and the Cold War. I often think that if he had the chance to receive a good education, he would have become an excellent historian. But more often than not, he will just think aloud about the pursuit of happiness in family life. Sheep and goats stare him back with their humid eyes when he pours out his soul.I called my grandfather tonight. Every time I call him, my eyes get teary from my physical inability to be in the countryside with him, hold his shaking hands and let him pour out his soul to me.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Gas Crisis in Bulgaria
These days on the news in Bulgaria you can hear about two main stories -- the gas crisis and the crisis in Gaza. Though the word play is kind of funny, the last thing we can do while watching the news is laugh.
Nevertheless, the news story that shook us directly was the first one.
On Thursday 21 schools were closed in the capital due to the low temperatures inside the class rooms. Classes were cancelled in other regions of the country. Students living in dormitories in Sofia had to either move in with friends to escape the coldness in their rooms, or study and shower by candlelight. Factories throughout the country faced big losses because they have been forced to shut down for four days now.
The low winter temperatures, Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict and Bulgaria's poor governmental response to the gas crisis resulted in bringing more misery and stress in the lives of ordinary people.
Nevertheless, the news story that shook us directly was the first one.
On Thursday 21 schools were closed in the capital due to the low temperatures inside the class rooms. Classes were cancelled in other regions of the country. Students living in dormitories in Sofia had to either move in with friends to escape the coldness in their rooms, or study and shower by candlelight. Factories throughout the country faced big losses because they have been forced to shut down for four days now.
The low winter temperatures, Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict and Bulgaria's poor governmental response to the gas crisis resulted in bringing more misery and stress in the lives of ordinary people.
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