Bulgaria and Slovenia are two very different countries, whose political pasts are now unexpectedly converging, BBC commented in its latest From Our Own Correspondent episode.

Bulgaria is one of the poorest former Eastern Bloc states, while Slovenia's always been one of the most prosperous. But as BBC correspondent Nick Thorpe explains, in both Sofia and Ljubljana - and beyond - there are signs of the same malaise and the same responses.

Nick Thorpe begins his tale of two countries from the open air markets of Ljubljana and Sofia.

“Strawberries are on special offer this spring in the open air markets of Ljubljana and Sofia, but nobody is buying them. They are selling their gold instead in the side streets nearby.

In times like these the premium is on the heavy yellow metal, not soft, scarlet fruit from the far-away green houses of Spain and Greece and Italy.”

Slovenia and Bulgaria have at first glance little in common.

In 1991 Slovenia escaped barely bruised from the violent break-up of Yugoslavia. Its new leaders were so self-confident that they printed their own currency – the tolar - a year in advance.

In 2007 Slovenia was the first ex-communist country to join the euro. People felt they were climbing the ladder to consumer heaven - from the dinar to the tolar to the euro - in just twelve years.

But by 2008 the state debt had leapt from zero to 10 billion euros. Money was cheap to borrow and no one seemed to ask for it back. Slovene supermarkets expanded across the Balkans and Slovene banks spawned baby banks like small fish.

Bulgaria on the other hand stumbled through the 1990s, experiencing hyperinflation and changed governments like nappies.

There was a property boom in the mid-2000s as Irish investors discovered the delights of the Black Sea coast and the dark black-colored and flavored wines.

This winter however street protests erupted in Bulgaria and Slovenia alike against the whole political elite and its friends in business.

“The street won surprisingly easily,” BBC correspondent comments.

While young people lose faith in their futures, the electorate loses its trust in politicians - resulting in new-minted governments and new ways to try and control them.

As everywhere in the world the youth are in the forefront of the protests. In Slovenia, there are two main groups among them – one that opposes the capitalist system as such and the other, which just does not agree with the Slovene version of it.

In Bulgaria, when 36-year-old Plamen Goranov set himself on fire in Varna in February to protest against the links between the city council and the mafia, his last recorded words were: “I should have been on holiday in Turkey now.”

BBC correspondent points out that Plamen’s martyrdom brought down the mayor of Varna just as the crowds in Slovenia toppled the mayor of Maribor.

“The success of the protests in toppling local and central governments is seen by some observers as proof of the strength of democracy, by others – as a sign of its weakness. The failure of the political elite to deliver the goods or do more than feather its own nest have set the minds to work, rethinking the democratic model. This is most pronounced in Bulgaria. The process has spawned councils of citizens to monitor the working of parliament, the ministries, the banks, even the prosecutor’s office. “

At the end of the episode Nick Thorpe goes back to Ljubljana’s main market, where “the crisis is not bad news for everyone”.

“While the strawberries lie untouched, there is a steady queue in front of a store, selling pickled cabbage. The smell is overpowering like miners’ socks, but the taste is heavenly. In the baroque church nearby people queue for confession for a better pew perhaps in the next life. “

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