In an article entitled "Europe's "Wild East" is ready to go West", the British Sunday Telegraph tells about the country's hardships, prospects and expectations en route to the European Union.

The conservative newspaper's article starts with the story of a waiter in the western Bulgarian border town of Tran. Depending on the findings of a Brussels report to be published on Tuesday, the district could be Europe's new frontier by January 1 next year.

"Since communism's collapse 16 years ago, all of Tran's factories have shut, half its 5,000 population has left and of those who remain, 70 per cent are jobless. The only good times in living memory came during the war in neighbouring Serbia, when locals made fortunes smuggling petrol."

Sunday Telegraph says what Bulgarians hope for is a repeat of the perceived success of accession from the previous wave in 2004, when Britain, Sweden and Ireland allowed workers from the newcomer states full access to their labour markets.

The author points out that the doubts of France, Italy and Germany, which still keep their doors shut, have proved unfounded.

"Mariuz, the Polish plumber, and Jan, the Czech carpenter, have given overpriced British tradesmen much-needed competition, while others have helped to plug Britain's labour shortages. A rule banning them from claiming benefits during their first year in Britain has deterred the feared waves of dole scroungers."

"Still, the worry is that another influx of Vassils, Annas and Marias so soon could be pushing things.... Another fear is that Bulgaria's builders and plumbers will not be the only ones taking their skills westward. So too may the country's notorious mobsters. Formed from an alliance of former Bulgarian secret service agents and Communist-era weightlifters and wrestlers, they control Europe's main heroin route from Turkey and have set up sidelines in people smuggling, counterfeiting and government corruption."

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