There are plenty of people in East-Central Europe who would prefer the idealized American or the West European approach to the history of the last 100 years. They'd like to face forward and move on.
The media in East-Central Europe used to be idea-centric. The unofficial samizdat publications focused on the cruelties and inanities of the regimes, unearthed nearly forgotten history, and often featured philosophic meditations on politics and morality.
The MRF has been criticized for its hierarchical structure. But the party has also been extraordinarily successful in raising the profile of ethnic Turks in Bulgaria.
Much of Bulgaria's Ottoman heritage is hidden away, sometimes in plain sight.
How did a Bulgarian parliamentarian who didn't speak English and who worked on the issue of ethnic Turks end up in Kentucky? You'll just have to read further.
While at Skoll, I participated in a session that brought both of these elements -- people and technology -- together and underscored the potential we have to make a bigger and more meaningful impact when they are combined.
The Ideas Factory has been instrumental in the revival of environmental activism in Bulgaria. It has integrated the arts into social movements, and it has worked hard to link up activists in Bulgaria with activists elsewhere in Europe and around the world.
Injured on the job, a Bulgarian migrant worker desperately needs surgery, but his official status as an independent contractor has allowed the compani...
Anyone engaged in social change has grappled with the essential question. Should I work within the system or outside the system? In the United States, the question is often expressed geographically: to operate "inside the Beltway" or "outside the Beltway."
By Angel Krasimirov SOFIA, April 5 (Reuters) - Bulgarians set aside religious and political differences on Friday at the start of thre...
The state and the market have long been in a tug of war in East-Central Europe. The Communists were not the first political force to recommend that the state play a much larger role in the economy.
After 1989, some of the dissidents of East-Central Europe went back to their original job. Others threw themselves into politics, as Vaclav Havel somewhat reluctantly did. And then there was the smallest category of them all: the dissidents who turned professional.
The party's platform mixes a left-wing critique of globalization with a frankly nationalist approach to minority policy. He wants to replace Bulgaria's flat tax with a progressive tax, but he believes that all ethnic Turks are just Bulgarians forced to convert to Islam in centuries past.
The "case of the 13 imams" sounds almost mythic. But the current case the Bulgarian government is prosecuting against 13 imams from the area of Pazardzhik -- west of Plovdiv on the way to Sofia -- is very real.
SOFIA, Bulgaria -- A Bulgarian man set himself on fire Wednesday to protest poverty in his country, becoming the sixth citizen to do that in a month. ...
Slovenia and Bulgaria are, respectively, the best-case scenario and the cautionary example of "transition" states. Both have struggled to transform communist-era economic and political structures. Both are now members of the European Union and NATO.
If Bulgaria seeks to attract more foreign investment and become a more mainstream EU member, Sofia must address the corruption issue head on. Moreover, the Bulgarian people must continue to demand greater accountability from their leaders.
SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Security cameras captured the moment when a Bulgarian man disgusted by corruption in his provincial hometown quietly doused himself...
In Bratislava, as the Velvet Revolution unfolded in November 1989, musicians played a key role in the Czechoslovak opposition movement. Yes, they participated in the demonstrations and spoke out against the communist authorities. But their main contribution was more prosaic: amps.
The recent resignation of the Bulgarian government, after several days of protest, reveals the deep discontent among the people over the economic situation.
By Sam Cage and Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's government resigned on Wednesday after violent nationwide prot...
Poland was unique in East-Central Europe for the size, strength, and pivotal role of its labor movement, Solidarity. But that doesn't mean that worker movements were not important in other countries. In Bulgaria, Podkrepa was a key part of the opposition representing workers' voices.
In Bulgaria, some people look back on their time during communism as the "calm life." You generally didn't have to work hard. Life was simpler. Of course, as with all nostalgia, these memories are selective.
* July bombing killed five Israelis in Black Sea resort * Finding may allow EU to classify Hezbollah as "terrorist" * U....
In the early days, NGOs enjoyed a rather high reputation in part because of the legacy of "anti-politics" from the earlier period. Today, however, NGOs don't meet with such universal acclaim.
