In Depth

Bulgaria Today

On May 16, 2006, E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn criticized the country's laggard performance on key criteria for joining the E.U. At that stage little progress had been made in the privatization of the national and regional monopolies in the transport and energy sectors, the decommissioning of four nuclear reactors at Kozlodui, agricultural legislation, and -- most pressing -- no progress at all on dealing with corruption and the powerful underground barons who control as much as 25% of the Bulgarian economy, and wield an equally troubling political influence. Though it's worth noting, as some Bulgarian commentators did, that the E.U. can hardly hold itself up as the purest paragon (at the time 9 out of 10 MPs in Italy were under investigation for fraud or corruption), the ultimatum was clear, and a month later Bulgaria's politicians delivered a task list that promised "zero tolerance."

But while the slap on the wrist evoked much talk, the only zero the public had seen by the end of that year was the percentage of successfully investigated crimes relating to money laundering, forgery, and human and drug trafficking. According to key industry players, some of whom refer to Bulgaria as the "Wild East," levels of corruption are higher here than in Romania, to which it is losing competitive ground due to its poor infrastructure, the shortage of skilled labor, and a dearth of tax incentives. But while Bulgaria has made none of the high-profile arrests brandished by its northern neighbor to E.U. inspectors in 2006 (though it remains to be seen if former Romanian Prime Minister Nastase will ever see a jail term), some Bulgarian commentators argue that real changes are taking place, and that it is happening where it matters: far-reaching judicial reforms including a much-needed fostering of judicial independence, and the removal of immunity that members of the legal profession once enjoyed.

The bleating of E.U. members aside (and that includes the U.K., which -- having just "welcomed" 500,000 Poles -- fears the onslaught of thousands of new immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania), Bulgaria has a strong, stable market economy and, with economic growth around 6%, is the envy of many in the West. It's true that the sluggish coalition government (see "A Look at the Past") struggles to respond to private-sector needs, or remove the vestiges of Communist rule, but investment, construction, tourism, property, and banking are all sectors showing strong growth. For now, labor is also relatively cheap, attracting attention as an outsourcing hub for both American and western European companies, though this is likely to take a blow when the youth, said to be of the best educated in Eastern Europe, leave for more lucrative pastures.

On January 1, 2007, Bulgaria joined the E.U., and the World Bank deposited the first $300 million into the country's coffers; whether the resultant industrialization and standardization of key aspects such as agriculture, not to mention the shrinking of an already inadequately sized labor force, will serve Bulgaria as well as is hoped remains to be seen. But the key challenge remains how best to achieve structural reforms that will have a lasting effect, not only on corruption, but productivity and accountability, so that ordinary Bulgarians -- too many of whom still live beneath the breadline -- can experience the kind of living standards long enjoyed by their wealthier cousins to the west.

A Look At The Past

Fragments and tools uncovered near the coast (on view in Varna's fascinating Archaeological Museum) date human habitation here back some 10,000 years, but these pale in significance when viewing Bulgaria's most exhilarating archaeological finds: the Thracian treasures, known as "the oldest gold in the world," proving that a highly sophisticated civilization flourished here from 3000 B.C. to 200 B.C.

What little we know of the Thracian tribes was recorded by the Greeks, who described them as "savage, bloodthirsty warriors," and appropriated a few of the Thracian gods, including Dionysus and Orpheus, for themselves. Weakened by infighting, Thracian numbers were reduced and finally absorbed by the Romans, who arrived in droves in the 1st century, only to be turned out during the 5th century by the Bulgars. In 681 Khan Asparoukh claimed the First Bulgarian Kingdom, a region comprising latter-day Serbia, Macedonia, and parts of northern Greece. But Bulgaria remained a cultural backwater until 855, when the Cyril and Methodius brothers created the Glagolic alphabet (later simplified into Cyrillic) primarily to translate the Bible into their indigenous tongue, but thereby creating an independent literary tradition for Slavic communities as far afield as Russia.

In 1018 Bulgaria fell to the Byzantines, who ruled for almost 170 years before the Bulgarians wrested it back. This launched the second Bulgarian Kingdom in new capital Veliko Tarnovo, from where they ruled the Balkans from the Adriatic to the Aegean. Jealous of its strategic position, the Ottomans invaded in 1398, ushering in a 500-year tenure that came to be known as the "Yoke of Oppression." one that only lifted after the groundswell of nationalism, which spawned the flourishing 19th-century design and art that came to be known as "National Revival" or "Bulgarian Renaissance" style (the best examples found in Plovdiv and Koprivishtitsa) and led to the 1876 April Uprisings. Following its brutal squashing, Russia finally came to the rescue, helping to oust the Ottomans in 1877, an act for which the Bulgarians remained permanently in Russia's debt, erecting numerous monuments and churches, like the Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, as proof of their "special relationship."

This may explain why Bulgaria so meekly accepted the Soviet "invasion" after World War II (during which Bulgaria sided with Hitler in the mistaken hopes of finally reclaiming the territory it lost in World War I). Ostensibly an independent Communist state, Bulgaria in reality once again found itself dominated by an outside power, this time under the "yoke" of the hard-line dictator Todor Zhivkov, who ruled until 1989, when he was quietly removed from power.

Bulgaria's first free elections were held in January 1990, when the Bulgarian Socialist Party was voted into power. Predictably, the poorly managed transition to a free market economy resulted in hyperinflation (579% in 1996), and by the end of the millennia Bulgaria was at the mercy of the IMF, which introduced austere reforms. In 2001 Bulgarians, ill disposed to their fledgling democracy, and overwhelmed by the return of their czar-in-exile, voted with their hearts. Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, who fled after World War II at age 9, was placed at the helm a few months after his return, but the gray, characterless czar did little to improve the fortunes of the country or the average person.

Currently Bulgaria is managed by a fragile coalition between three very disparate parties: the toothless class-based BSP; the hugely resented Movement for Rights and Freedoms, predominantly supported by ethnic Turkish minorities of the south; and the nationalist Movement Simeon II, still headed by the ex-prince who currently stands in the shadow of his Italian cousin's corruption trial for drug and human trafficking. Established to meet the conditions for E.U. accession, the coalition looks unlikely to survive beyond 2007; even if it does, Bulgaria will still lack strong, selfless leadership: the fact that Sofia's current mayor "hardman" Boiko Borissov -- Todor Zhivkov's former security chief -- enjoys enough popularity for the local press to speculate on his presidential ambitions, does not bode well. The ideal of an accountable, transparent leader with no tentacles into the shadowy past is clearly not one held by all. And without economic prowess, real freedom remains elusive.