Bulgaria - future EU-member. What do you think?

[sls]

Oh, I finally managed to phrase the subject of this topic. If someone thinks of a better one, please change it

Anyway, with this thread I would like to address those of you who live in (and come from) Europe and to be more precise - in the EU. As you probably know, Bulgaria and Romania are to become members of the European Union on 01.01.07 and it is heavily discussed how we will be accepted. Since the members of this forum are intelligent people, it is your opinion that matters to me the most.
What do you know about Bulgaria and Bulgarians? What impression do you have of us? Do you think we'll just come and steal your jobs? Do you thinks of us as "lower" people or do you look forward to having a new culture join the big EU family?

Opinions about Romania are also welcome. And don't be afraid to express negative feelings

P.S. There seem to be some Bulgarians in this forum. Of course, they are welcome to comment, too

[Torsten]

Hi sls, very interesting topic indeed. I think it is good that Bulgaria and Romania are joining the EU next year because this shows that cultural diversity is a successful concept in Europe too. At first, people are often reluctant to adopt to a new situation and they concentrate on the risks rather than the opportunities. It might be the same with Bulgaria joining the EU.

There are some people in the other EU member states who might think they could lose their job to a Bulgarian. But this notion is based on a lack of information. Even if EU citizenship included an EU wide work permit for the Bulgarians (which it doesn't), it would still be much harder for a Bulgarian to get a job in another EU country for the simple fact that they would have to compete with the locals in the labor market.

I think it's time for the Europeans to realize that if we pull together and see our cultural and ethnic diversity as a strength rather than an obstacle. And I'm sure that the Germans, for example, can learn at least as much from the Bulgarians as the Bulgarians can learn from the Germans.

What do I know about Bulgaria? I have great respect for you because in a very short period of time you have changed a lot in your country. For the better. You didn't have anyone to reunify with like we Germans. I think that there are quite a lot of Bulgarians (especially amongst the youth) who are very goal oriented and competitive.
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[sls]

Hi, Torsten!
I agree with your opinion about diversity being a strength but would like to comment on this part of your post:

[FangFang]

Hello,
This is indeed a big topic.
Since here is coming a united and big Europe , seemingly Euro has been accepted by many european countries, there are still lots of problems which can't be settled . Unemployment , poverty and unstability of Politics ,etc. Of course, there are many factors concerned . You can't say all of them are related to the entry into EU.
Each country has its own problems, like the economic extent of development, specially its policies of trade and environment for investment. Then , how to eliminate discrepancies is presented out, personally, I think that is the most important thing for all EU memebers, which decides whether EU can exist longer or not. Because a united and big EU means lots of things, specially the integrity of Economy and Politics, thus, the traditional european economy will be booming again. In fact, now many traditional and old european countries are joining into EU , which is good for Euro , this currency is still competitive for Dollar , Japanese Yen or our RMB. So as long as EU can keep a stable development , the currency of euro will be good for the world economy. ( What's strange, is that up to now UK is still out of the door of EU, maybe Pound wants to keep its traditional advantage in the world.) Thus, from a national viewpoint, EU is helpful for some old european countries though there are existing many domestic problems.
What I am interested in is , with the coming entry into EU, Bulgaria must take series of reforming efforts . I wonder how much extent those efforts will affect your daily lives.

[Torsten]

[Torsten]

[sls]

[FangFang]

[SkiIucK]

Hi, people!
I, being from Bulgaria myself, would like to share with you my joy that my country will be joining the EU. I can assure you that, despite all of its flaws, Bulgaria will be a proud and worthy member of this union. I truly believe that one day all members of the EU won`t regret the admission of Bulgaria.
Being so optimistical about joining, I would like to emphasize that BG is still far from attaining blameless results in some spheres like economic condition (poverty, bribery, etc.), environment protection (there is abundence of garbage everywhere), and last but not least, education. Seems like, being one of the most important subjects, most of today`s students neglect their education.
Saying all this, in spite of our current problems, I believe that people will actually start realizing that they will become a part of a modern, well educated, studious society. And by realizing this, they would start doing what they have to do.

P.S. Please, let me know of ANY grammar and vocabular mistakes that I have done. And one more thing. Which is right/wrong or more correct: "thrice a day" or "three times a day"
Thank you for your attention.

[Torsten]

[Conchita]