Setting a good example

Five months after Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, the country is reviewing its progress in this first European period in its history. After the long process of reforms, Bulgarians felt their membership of the big European family as recognition of the efforts they have made to achieve a goal so ardently desired. The chance of travelling freely, of choosing where to work and study, and to discuss together with other member countries Europe’s common future have made the Bulgarians proud of being part of the European Community. This initial enthusiasm, rather weak in the old European countries, can be seen written on the faces of people one meets on the street.The media speak of it and Bulgarians express it to their neighbours in the Balkan countries. Probably the achievement of Bulgaria’s long process of becoming part of Europe will set a good example to other states in the region that also aspire to become members of the European Union. In these first five months within the EU Bulgaria feels greater security and is more hopeful about the future. It seems there is now greater respect for the laws; there have been massive crackdowns by the security forces on CD piracy and on organized crime, which unfortunately continues to have a major influence in society. So EU accession has marked the end of one stage and the beginning of another for Bulgaria, and now the country must continue its reforms and courageously eliminate what prevents her from growing. In the image of a citizen of the Balkans, the EU represents a union founded on precise rules that cannot be violated and a union in which the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity are fundamental. This was one of the hopes of Bulgarians: namely, that Europe would create more order in their country. But it is Bulgarian politicians who must realise it: they ought to commit themselves more to the common good than to their own interest, seeing that the struggle against corruption in the upper levels of government and standards in the judicial system are Bulgaria’s weak points.Some member countries have protested against these frequent abuses in Bulgaria and in Romania, asking Brussels to take the necessary provisions. The Vice-President of the European Commission Franco Frattini, in an interview with the internet review “European Voice”, declared that the Commission could activate the protective clause for the two new members if they failed to demonstrate a more concrete commitment to these problems. However, according to Frattini, both Bulgaria and Romania, all things considered, are making good progress.Bulgarians themselves are also acknowledging this, even if they hoped for a clear improvement of their living standards. “Prices have become European, but wages have remained Bulgarian”, one hears people frequently saying in the central market of Sofia. Long before the arrival of the euro, planned no earlier than 2009, prices have increased for no good reason; the cost of electricity will also increase from 1st July. All this explains the many strikes in Bulgaria in recent months: of teachers, of doctors, of public transport.It is culture and the promotion of what transcends our preoccupation with our daily bread, the search for the spiritual, that especially feel the consequences of all this. After the fall of Communism in the countries of the Soviet bloc, moral standards have much declined. This can be seen in the former Yugoslavia, in Macedonia, in Russia and in Ukraine. It is especially seen in the young. Many young people dream of becoming like mafia bosses or the rock singers they see on television. We need to stop for a moment and reflect that once the common values indispensable for the future of Europe have been lost, it will be difficult to recover them when having our daily bread alone is no longer enough.