Bulgaria Month, June 12

Through the (Collier's Encyclopedia) (Y)ear(book)s with Bulgaria:

• 1945--Four parties (the Agrarians, Right Wing Zveno Group, Socialists and Communists) comprise the ruling Fatherland Front. The yearbook says that the most influential person in the party is a woman named Tsola Dragoytchova but doesn't go into any details. A Google search on her name appears to confirm the name and importance, but that's about it. Two other things from this year ... It is said that, through, March 26, 1945, 2,138 people had been convicted (of treason, it appears) by Bulgaria's People's Court and executed. Also, it is said that in October, Louisville editor Mark Ethridge visited Bulgaria to report on the elections there and contributed to the U.S. position that they failed to reflect the democratic opinion.
• 1955--"Of all the satellite countries in Eastern Europe Bulgaria has been the one most Sovietized. ... Little news came out of the country." So, for example, while Western media were allowed to visit some Communist lands in summer 1955, Bulgaria "remained secluded." Among the news that did seep through were these two items. Bulgaria in August shot down what turned out to be a passenger plane from Israel, killing 57 on board. (The Bulgarian government eventually apologized for the error.) Also in 1955, Bulgaria cut a deal to buy 500 Chevrolet passenger cars for a little more than $1 million, "but the agreement was cancelled by General Motors under a company rule against sales to Communist countries."
• 1973--Some interesting legislation from this year ... Citizens may own no more than one residence and one villa, neither larger than 120 square meters (about 1,290 square feet). Property being used to generate "non-labor income" was to be expropriated, with violators additionally either being resettled or jailed. Moms were extended six months of additional paid leave after their first child, seven months after their second, eight months after their third and an additional six months for each new child thereafter. Minimum wage was raised to 80 leva per month. Top teacher salary was raised to 145 leva per month; beginning physicians, to 130 per month.

Bulgaria Month, June 9

Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, and Sunday was the first time it voted in sync with the rest of the EU for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Bulgaria elects 17 of the 736 MEPs (Germany holds the most seats, 99; Malta, the least, 5), and on Sunday an estimated 38 percent of Bulgarians voted to shift more of those seats to a center-right/populist party led by the Sofia mayor. The Financial Times reports that the results suggests the mayor, Boyko Borissov, is the favorite to become Bulgaria’s next leader when citizens return to the polls July 5 to elect their national leaders.

It's sort of interesting to read the (Google translation of) results of an online poll at the winning party's web site, "Who should be the leading priority for the next administration?"

• Combating Corruption and Organized Crime 31.8%
• increasing incomes of citizens 26.1%
• absorption of EU funds 9.2%
• building infrastructure 7.0%
• Reform of the judiciary 6.5%
• investment in education 5.6%
• reducing unemployment 5.4%
• Energy Security 4.3%
• accessible and quality health care 4.0%

It's significantly more interesting, however, to read this story.

Finally, there's this, which is definitely interesting but difficult to figure. The person who posted it appears to have roots with both Bulgaria and Macedonia.

Bulgaria Month, June 7

Bulgaria 1-1 Republic of Ireland

The postmortem from The Sofia Echo's Nick Iliev: "It was a decent encounter on a sunny afternoon in Sofia that saw the travelling merry contingent of 3000 plus Irish supporters who had arrived to back their team, singing and drinking constantly. The carnival atmosphere was augmented by the 35 000 thousand Bulgarians who also created a wall of noise in support of their team. It was a good day of football, without crowd trouble, and although the score could have been a little better for the hosts, it will go down as a pleasant encounter for both sides."

And, so, while not definitively eliminated, Bulgaria appears unlikely to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup and instead likely to extend vigil for its next "Golden Generation." That's the nickname for the 1994 national team, the only Bulgarian side to ever achieve the World Cup semifinals.

Later during Bulgaria Month, we'll look at where else in the Bulgarian sports world resides excitement. More importantly today, however: http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/06/06/731292_bulgaria-falls-in-love-with-fast-food?p=0#comments!