Partisanship

We are already used to the fact that U.S. Ambassador James Warlick meddles with our interior affairs and dictates to the government what needs to be done. He voices his opinion on every step that our state authorities take — he approves; he disapproves. He gives his consent or discontent on the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, on our energy policy, on the situation with the Bulgarian Roma, on the prosecution body, on the job done by our police, on everything you could think of. The diplomat has a solution for every problem, an answer for every question, a recommendation for every issue. This is OK; this is not OK — you would say he is the one in charge.

If Bulgaria is a sovereign state, its leaders and government should act like it is. With the exception of the president, who already addressed the Warlick phenomenon in a tactful manner, the rest of the administration is acting as if being a puppet is the norm of the day. During the “bad” socialist time, we used to make fun of other states that were showing the same puppetry skills and were obediently bringing into reality everything Uncle Sam ordered. On our comic strips, the leaders of these countries used to wear a chimney pot hat colored with the American flag.

Now U.S. diplomat No. 1 in Bulgaria gathers several so-called independent members of the parliament and decides to form a party. Such a smart guy! It may be better if he goes back to the U.S. to break their bipartisan model and turn it into a multi-partisan one: one party for this state, one party for that state, one for the left, one for the right, one for the greens, one for the blues, one for the reds. Then, he could proceed with forming coalitions — one for the U.S., one for the Balkans, and probably one for Bulgaria.

Since Warlick is so active in his partisanship, there should be some results of his actions. Not for him, but for us Bulgarians — to become wealthier, to become healthier, to have better food or to restore our peace of mind. The partisan Warlick, though, does not promise anything of that nature. He is only generous on delivering commands. If he were delivering promises, he could launch an election campaign for president, for mayor or for city councilor. He only tells us what needs to be done as if we are some sort of well-hidden, undiscovered territory in the jungle, and a team of explorers is trying to register a presence of life here.

It may be a good idea to remind the diplomat that our country has a 13-century history. His tradition cannot compete with ours. No matter how strongly the U.S. presses its cause for globalization, they have to consider national specifics too, and we have plenty of those.

If we were a normal state with a stable government, Warlick would have received a persona non grata note at least three times so far. That’s not the case when you deal with us! Who then would tell Boiko* how to govern the state? Let’s ask Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov how many times he invited the diplomat to discuss with him his interventions in our interior affairs? I wish we were a normal country.

*Translator’s Note: Boiko Borisov is the Bulgarian prime minister.

**Translator’s Note: Duma (Word) is the official press media/publication of the Bulgarian Socialist Party.