Footnotes in Modern Bulgarian History
Author: Lora Petrova
Editorial | June 11, 2007, Monday
Just several hours ago, US President George Bush and the first lady Laura Bush took off from Sofia Airport, putting an end to their visit to Bulgaria, which was seen by many as Р° historic event.
Not that it wasn't one - it is not every day that the president of the United States of America comes on a two-day visit to Bulgaria. Still, the Bulgarian media went completely mad and trumpeted all day long Bush's every step and breath - all of it placed in some strangely festive mood. But their enthusiasm met the cold shoulder and the unenthusiastic response of Sofia residents, who had to deal with the strict traffic restrictions, the extremely high level of security prior to, during and after the visit. The question that springs to my mind is - should George W. Bush's visit be labeled as a historic one or just a regular visit of the president of a foreign country?
The huge number of important international and regional issues discussed with the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and the PM Sergey Stanishev was impressive, but, strangely enough, none of them managed to become the generally-accepted leading news story of the visit.
Also, the international media turned their back on the event to a certain degree, and while Bush's visit to Albania, for instance, got vast coverage from numerous media outlets, his two days in Bulgaria seemed almost like an afterthought compared to his previous stop. And what little interest the media showed was mainly focused on him and only a few words were said about the issues concerning Bulgaria. It was as if he had come to our country to discuss US domestic affairs only.
Finally, and no less impressive, a lot of us expected something really big to happen, many wise and important words to be said by the two presidents, but in the end all of it can be summed up by saying it was just another instance of beating around the Bush.
Not that it wasn't one - it is not every day that the president of the United States of America comes on a two-day visit to Bulgaria. Still, the Bulgarian media went completely mad and trumpeted all day long Bush's every step and breath - all of it placed in some strangely festive mood. But their enthusiasm met the cold shoulder and the unenthusiastic response of Sofia residents, who had to deal with the strict traffic restrictions, the extremely high level of security prior to, during and after the visit. The question that springs to my mind is - should George W. Bush's visit be labeled as a historic one or just a regular visit of the president of a foreign country?
The huge number of important international and regional issues discussed with the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and the PM Sergey Stanishev was impressive, but, strangely enough, none of them managed to become the generally-accepted leading news story of the visit.
Also, the international media turned their back on the event to a certain degree, and while Bush's visit to Albania, for instance, got vast coverage from numerous media outlets, his two days in Bulgaria seemed almost like an afterthought compared to his previous stop. And what little interest the media showed was mainly focused on him and only a few words were said about the issues concerning Bulgaria. It was as if he had come to our country to discuss US domestic affairs only.
Finally, and no less impressive, a lot of us expected something really big to happen, many wise and important words to be said by the two presidents, but in the end all of it can be summed up by saying it was just another instance of beating around the Bush.
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