Bulgarian Village Barakovo Roots for Barack Obama on US Election Day
Society | November 6, 2012, Tuesday| 1198 views
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The small village of Barakovo, Kocherinovo Municipality, in Southwestern Bulgaria, is hoping for a visit by its namesake Barack Obama. Photo by bTV
The residents of the tiny Bulgarian village of Barakovo are rooting for the reelection of their village's namesake, Barack Obama, on the US election day.
The village of Barakovo, with a population of under 600, located at the foot of the Rila Mountain in Southwestern Bulgaria, is hoping that incumbent US President Barack Obama will beat Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, so that Obama can then visit Bulgaria, and stop at their village as well – obviously because of its name.
The residents of Barakovo have even sent a letter to the White House inviting Obama to visit, the private bTV channel reported. The idea to invite Barack Obama to Barakovo belongs to a local resident, Stoyan Evtimov.
"Any such unconventional idea generates some positive emotions for the people," Evtimov explained.
The report points out that the village has even named a barbecue after Barack Obama.
"I have seen neither good, nor bad from Barack Obama. For me, he is just an ordinary man even though he is the President of America," explains his views Lyuben Stoimenov, an elderly local resident.
The report explains that the name of the village of Barakovo stems from the period before the First Balkan War of 1912 because back then a bridge in the village marked the borderline between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey. The name of the village stemmed from "bayryak", a Bulgarian word for "flag" because this where the border flag posts were located, and was thus originally called "Bayrakovo".
Subsequently, however, through a bureaucratic spelling mistake in the government offices, the name of the village was recorded as Barakovo, and remains so to this very day.
"We hope that you are going to visit us during your first official visit in Bulgaria. Your visit will be a great honor and joy for us," states the letter of the residents of Barakovo to Barack Obama.
The village has already received an automatic reply from the White House stating that its staff is unable to answer to each letter individually because of the large number of letters to the US President.
"We hope that he will be lucky, that he will be reelected so that he can come and visit us, and so that we can have something to brag about," stated on US Election Day Barakovo Mayor Julieta Lazova regarding her village's invitation to its namesake Barack Obama.
Tags: US President, Barack Obama, USA, Mitt Romney, Barakovo, village, White House, Presidential elections, election day, bTV, Balkan War, First Balkan War, Balkan Wars, Ottoman Turkey
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