Back in Time When Bulgaria Was Still an Outsider

Today I was going through some of my writings from previous years just to see whether I am progressing or regressing in my thoughts and if I've become even more cynical than I used to be.. .Here's what I bumped upon... 2005 discussion on Bulgaria's entrance in the European Union. I remember this paper because when I started writing it I was so optimistic and in the end of my research the picture which I seemed to portray was not so rosy as I imagined to describe... Here is the conclusion of my Bulgaria in the European Union:

In conclusion, it seems that the European Union will bring about difficulties for Bulgaria. Integration will not be so much useful for a developing country like this one.

An alternative solution to the idea of integrating, however, does not exist. There is no other regional integration organization in Europe and soon there won’t be anything of the kind. What is more, a small and feeble country which isolates itself from integration processes, the entering of the European Union in this case, is taking greater risk than it can handle.

For countries like Switzerland and Norway keeping disintegrated may be possible but this is surely not useful for a country like Bulgaria. Bulgaria doesn’t have a bright future outside the European Community. But its future as a member of the European Union at this moment of time doesn’t seem much better either. There is also something else at work which holds true for any poor developing country – poor developing countries never have the chance to choose an alternative for themselves which alternative is a hundred percent for their benefit and well-being.

Thus, it is inevitable for Bulgaria to enter the European Union but the main conclusion here is that this entering is just not coming at the right moment. After entering the European Union in January 2007, Bulgaria will not be able yet to use all its rights and to fulfill all the EU demands. It seems that for a long time to come Bulgaria’s role in the EU will be to plead for help and understanding. This prediction doesn’t sound much positive even if it is merely for the fact that partners which do not have what to offer cannot be trusted and respected. They can be in the best possible case just treated with sympathy and understanding.

The case of Bulgaria in the European Union seems to represent the above stated. In the case of Bulgaria’s entering the European Union there is also a saying which holds true and it basically says that there are no life-long friends and life-long enemies, what is the only life-long thing that persists in time are your own interests. The European Union will reach its brightest future only if it manages to become the best developed integration organization known in history. This will only be possible if the European Union stick to the fundamental principles with which they started, namely the idea of collaboration and taking decisions which will be beneficial for the common good of the Union. If this is possible to happen or not, we can only predict.