Joining EU had this effect on my country as well (Romania). There are entire villages (I lived in one of them for 6 years and I can make a difference) where just old people can be found. The young left for other countries (mostly UK and Italy) and to the bigger cities but the latter did so because, for some reason, they couldn't find anything abroad.
What you're left with is nothing but old people who are easily manipulated into voting for whoever promises a bigger pension - sad but true, they dictate the future by majority. It's been years since we're fighting corruption at the highest level without success.
Bulgaria is even scarier than that. We travel to or through Bulgaria almost each year (going to their beaches or to Turkey) and we happen to go through huge areas without seeing people at all. Often times, when stopping for gas (true story, happened to us last year), you encounter really shady people that simply look for trouble - especially with the ladies. In one occasion we stopped for more than 30 mins and the individuals started "gathering up" and doing whatever they can to spark a fight with us.
I have friends who traveled at night and swear to not do it again. They encountered the same type of individuals that were cutting trees onto the road to prevent you from going any further and try to rob people. We have a rule, never travel Bulgaria alone, even if you're alone at the border you need to find someone else going to the same direction and go in packs.
Sad to see a country go down like that. We have witnessed this country getting worse and worse each year. Also, they seem to be even more corrupt than us, we prepare batches of 10 euros for police because we know they will stop us, we just get the paper out of the windows, salute and go...that's all they want.
I'm curious if other Bulgarians are aware of the difficulties we have to deal with while traveling in their country.
Edit:
I see some folks complain that I'm fabricating. I own a tourism small business and we always warn people of 2 things when doing Bulgaria:
1 - Never park your car where it's not being guarded, filmed, monitored (lots of cases with people left without their vehicle)
2 - Never stop at night on the road (if you can)
Romanian journalism (requires translation). The internet is filled:
- http://www.reporterntv.ro/stire/vacanta-de-cosmar-pentru-o-f...
- https://www.romaniatv.net/romani-lasati-fara-masini-in-timp-...
- https://www.promotor.ro/opinii/george-buhnici-despre-problem...
- https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/social/romani-ramasi...
- https://movafaq.wordpress.com/2017/02/10/romanian-cars-bulga...
- https://www.b1.ro/stiri/auto/varna-hoti-romani-furati-in-bul...
- https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/masini-furate-in-bulgaria-17...
- https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/vacanta-in-bulgari...
- https://observator.tv/social/vacanta-la-schi-in-bulgaria-a-l...
- http://www.bmwclub.ro/forums/topic/171395-bmw-furat-in-bulga...
I can go on but there's no point.
What you're left with is nothing but old people who are easily manipulated into voting for whoever promises a bigger pension - sad but true, they dictate the future by majority. It's been years since we're fighting corruption at the highest level without success.
Bulgaria is even scarier than that. We travel to or through Bulgaria almost each year (going to their beaches or to Turkey) and we happen to go through huge areas without seeing people at all. Often times, when stopping for gas (true story, happened to us last year), you encounter really shady people that simply look for trouble - especially with the ladies. In one occasion we stopped for more than 30 mins and the individuals started "gathering up" and doing whatever they can to spark a fight with us.
I have friends who traveled at night and swear to not do it again. They encountered the same type of individuals that were cutting trees onto the road to prevent you from going any further and try to rob people. We have a rule, never travel Bulgaria alone, even if you're alone at the border you need to find someone else going to the same direction and go in packs.
Sad to see a country go down like that. We have witnessed this country getting worse and worse each year. Also, they seem to be even more corrupt than us, we prepare batches of 10 euros for police because we know they will stop us, we just get the paper out of the windows, salute and go...that's all they want.
I'm curious if other Bulgarians are aware of the difficulties we have to deal with while traveling in their country.
Edit: I see some folks complain that I'm fabricating. I own a tourism small business and we always warn people of 2 things when doing Bulgaria:
1 - Never park your car where it's not being guarded, filmed, monitored (lots of cases with people left without their vehicle) 2 - Never stop at night on the road (if you can)
Romanian journalism (requires translation). The internet is filled:
- http://www.reporterntv.ro/stire/vacanta-de-cosmar-pentru-o-f...
- https://www.romaniatv.net/romani-lasati-fara-masini-in-timp-...
- https://www.promotor.ro/opinii/george-buhnici-despre-problem...
- https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/social/romani-ramasi...
- https://movafaq.wordpress.com/2017/02/10/romanian-cars-bulga...
- https://www.b1.ro/stiri/auto/varna-hoti-romani-furati-in-bul...
- https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/masini-furate-in-bulgaria-17...
- https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/vacanta-in-bulgari...
- https://observator.tv/social/vacanta-la-schi-in-bulgaria-a-l...
- http://www.bmwclub.ro/forums/topic/171395-bmw-furat-in-bulga...
I can go on but there's no point.