My big fat European wedding

06/10/2006

Jitters are natural, but both the EU and its new Balkan members will figure it out as they go along, writes a Bulgarian blogger.

By Balkanblogs for Southeast European Times – 06/10/06

A communist-era statue competes for attention with modern day graffiti in Sofia. The former eastern bloc states of Bulgaria and Romania will be joining the EU in January. [Getty Images]

The wait is over. Last week the European Commission finally came out and said it: Bulgaria and Romania will be welcomed into the EU family on January 1st, 2007, though with strings attached. Writing ahead of the news, Krasitta summed up the situation.

"We are going to be told today that we will be able to join the EU if, of course, we meet a number of conditions like fixing our constitution and judiciary and tackling corruption and various diseases affecting pigs. All these things, if not properly fixed, will put a stain on the otherwise impeccable EU. It is a fact, however, that we have to tackle a thousand other things which the poor Europeans have never heard of and hopefully never will."

It's no news that people in the EU are not unanimously happy about the enlargement process, Krasitta says, adding, "I don't want some of them either."

Nevertheless, she concludes, everyone has to learn to get along in a new spirit of mutual tolerance.

In Romania, Boo thinks it might be helpful if Westerners learned about a few peculiarities of the future EU member state. For example:

"The fact that the subway network does not even cover half of the capital. The chaotic traffic and the imaginative, to say the least, parking. The lack of trees and the fact that, instead of planting new ones, we are chopping down the ones we have."

Another Romanian blogger, Feneka, isn't sure everything is heading in a democratic direction.

"Parliament is about to vote on a law that will seriously limit two fundamental rights: the freedom of speech and the freedom of thought," she writes. The legislation would ban any form, means, acts or actions of religious defamation or hatred, as well as public offence to religious symbols.

That means "certain rock concerts, movies, books or theatre plays will possibly be forbidden or censored in Romania," Feneka argues.

Elsewhere in the region:

According to Umornikonj, you can always tell when it's election time in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- suddenly the roads start getting repaved.

"If we had elections every year, and not every second year, we would have better roads than in Germany. They even put these cones all along the roads, and you can drive as if you were playing a video game," they write.

"As for the number of political parties … we are very advanced in that field too. Approximately every citizen has a party. What can I tell you -- we have two HDZ parties. Not one, but two. The new one and the old one -- there is something for everyone."

Writing at shekulliblog, Elisabeta Ilnica worries about a new trend in Albanian business: firms going out of their way to hire especially good-looking young employees. Attractive looks can make up for shortcomings on the resume, but it doesn't necessarily work the other way around.

"I am not against the beauty --on the contrary," she writes. "But what comes to my mind is the question: Are these women as clever as they are beautiful?!"

Commenting on the post, Gur says there are only two conditions for getting a job in Albania: "to be related to someone in government, if you want to work in administration, or to be beautiful." No wonder the country suffers from brain drain, he concludes.