Sofia Echo, Bulgaria
Nov 22 2004

Double Dutch in Bulgaria

Koos Schouten

FIRST of all, I have to mention Martin Petrov who plays football for
Wolfsburg, the current leaders of the German Bundesliga.

A German TV commentator named him the “Celebration King” of German
football after he scored his fifth goal in two matches, bring his
total to eight for the season. ‘Marto’ as the Wolfs fans call him has
now officially become their most popular player. (Who’s surprised?).
Any opponent of the Bulgarian National Team better beware the man
from Vratsa will definitely appear in front of your goal and know no
hesitation.

On a different note:

“After a series by visits by Bulgarian politicians to Turkey,
organisations of Bulgarian emigrants in that country came to Bulgaria
to enquire about alternatives to the Movement for Rights and Freedoms
(MRF) for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. More than 85 per
cent of the Bulgarian emigrants to Turkey, who voted for the MRF in
previous elections, are not satisfied with what the movement has done
for them during its three-year term so far as junior coalition
partner in the ruling majority. This is one of the results in a
survey by Turkkan’s organisation. (Sega).”

This doesn’t surprise me at all, it has been proven in many countries
that minority parties representing religious and/or ethnic groups are
rarely successful. In my opinion, it makes much more sense for the
Bulgarian emigrants in Turkey, but also elsewhere in the world to
seek representation by leading parties that represents their
political views. In this new era of a United Europe, voters should
aim to develop a broader view in politics and not just worry about
their ethnicity.

For Bulgarian Turks, Muslims, Armenians and Roma to be represented by
minority parties will only push them further into the minority
corner. Parties such as the MRF only serve their leaders and can be
used only as whipping boys in coalition governments where they are
treated with respect only when their vote is needed.

Charity:

Last Saturday Night there was a charity Pub Quiz in JJ Murphy’s Irish
Pub for the benefit of the ONE LIFE Charity for Children with Cancer
and other Life shortening diseases. There were some 125 participants
in the pub and a pleasant evening was had by all. The organisers of
this event were also responsible for the bike ride a few weeks ago
from Sofia to Plovdiv. Although the charity events were well
attended, the average donation was less then 20 leva per person. I
believe that this is way too low considering that almost all were
expats.

Just to reassure you, the funds collected are all used for charity
and the accounts are audited by KPMG’s Gilbert McCall.

So, if you feel that you financially underachieved at either of these
events or even worse did not attend, please call Laura Thomas on
0888-546555 and she will send a volunteer to your office or residence
to collect your donation.

Politics:

It warmed my heart that after months of bickering the parties of the
right are finally getting their act together and will present the
Bulgarian voters with a real choice. I understand that there will be
two more meetings before Christmas and that by that time they will
once again present a United Front.

Although Mr. Gotta’ Yellow Army has brought some highly capable
people such as Milen Velchev into the lime light, they never remotely
lived up to their promises.