Sofia.  He is a collective image of the European Union. Proud owner of a nightmarish sense of humor, compared to which English jokes resemble bed time stories. His passion for football can be compared only to the Italians’ love of King Football. Speaks English with heavy accent but is always keen to use it. And in the beginning of the week Rehn showed that he has mastered the Balkans’ trade mark – populism, the Telegraf Daily analyzes.
Rumor has it that a week ago the EU Commissioner for Enlargement wasn’t planning next Tuesday to be the “black Tuesday” for him and for Bulgaria. Not that anybody sincerely hoped that EC would spare Bulgaria for the unending mess in the National Road Infrastructure Fund, but mostly because nobody expected the blow to be delivered at the main department for payment and contracting. And maybe because Rehn himself was giving positive assessments for the Fund’s work. What happened in the days before “black Tuesday” nobody knows. What we know now is that the Finn has written off EUR 220 million from Bulgaria’s credit card. Another EUR 340 million under PHARE and EUR 1 billion under structural funds are still questionable.
If we consider Rehn’s arguments we understand that our country fell victim to the global financial crisis. A joke is a joke but with the motive for preserving EU taxpayers’ money in these harsh times Rehn refused to reinstate accreditations for the two agencies in the Financial Ministry and the Ministry for Regional Development and Public Works.
Populist or not Rehn may be right - Bulgarian authorities moved around in effort to prove that the state is able to protect the tax payers’ interests but pretending that everything will be all right from now on is plain useless.
And yet it is another topic of discussion that it is during a period of pre-election situation Brussels decided to wield the club and cut the sweets.
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