I HOPE that 2006 will satisfy all your wishes. Of course I also hope this for this wonderful country in general, as it embarks on its last year outside of the European Union. This will be an interesting year and I am sure it will be full of surprises. I made a short list of what I think will be possible in the next 360 days or so:

1. The Bulgarian Government denies running concentration camps for the CIA, but admits sharing airbases and penitentiary facilities for strictly peaceful purposes.

2. The Bulgarian Judiciary gets reformed with an option to un-reform it within 12 months.

3. The mayor of Sofia, the almighty BoboCop announces a permanent car-free zone within four blocks of Vitosha Boulevard and turns NDK into a massive parking garage.

4. The Ministry of Health closes down all restaurants that do not adhere to the non-smoking law; the Ministry of Finance re-opens them the next day.

5. BoboCop with the assistance of the Zoo Police arrests all stray dogs, sticks them in a massive container and ships them to Brigitte Bardot's villa in the South of France.

6. Bulgaria finally declares war on the Former Terrorist Republic of Libya and liberates the innocent doctor and nurses.

7. Bulgaria also declares war on The Former Ottoman Province of Greece to free the innocent Nikolai Barovsky.  (http://barovsky.ludost.net)

8. Ariel Sharon gets new (illegal) brain implant in Sofia.

9. Bulgaria elects a gay president with a Jewish maternal grandmother, Roma maternal grandfather, Turkish paternal grandfather and a paternal Slav grandmother who used to be the lover of several members of the communist regime.

10. Levski beats Litex in the European Cup final.

All joking aside, I truly believe that we finally may see some serious improvements in this country.

I would like to dedicate the rest of my column to the case of Nikolai Barovsky who has been held without a trial in a Greek jail for some 16 months and whose trial date is now set for the January 11 2006:

"On September 22 2004 Nikolai Barovsky, 29 years old, Bulgarian architect and musician with no criminal past, was arrested by the Greek police at the Bulgarian-Greek border. He was travelling to Athens as a member and co-establisher of a Bulgarian non-government charity organisation, Dignity Bulgaria 2003. The aim of his trip was to represent the organisation at a meeting with a potential partner organisation at the Greek capital, organised by another founding member of the same NGO - Iskra Vidinska-Rigatou. Just before boarding the bus for Athens, Nikolai was given a small plastic bag by Iskra's daughter - Rose Elen Rigatou, also a member of the organisation. Nikolai was to bring the luggage to her brother, residing in Greece. The bag, according to Rose Elen's explanation and to Nikolai's brief look at it , contained a sports jacket and a Walkman.

At the border, Nikolai was to bring his luggage down for inspection and the package he was given to carry was found to contain a jacket with 20 000 fake euro banknotes stuffed in its sleeve. No fingerprints have ever been taken from the luggage, the jacket has not undergone any dactiloscopic expertise, and there is no proof that the validity of the money was examined. After the interrogation Nikolai was taken into protective custody. Iskra and Rose Elen Rigatou were called to testify but they did not report to the police. On October 15 they were both issued arrest warrants on their Greek names (they both have double Greek and Bulgarian citizenship) and the warrants were passed on to Interpol. The investigation in Greece was suspended. Yet the arrest of Nikolai Barovsky was not suspended. Six months later, on March 24 2005, his arrest was prolonged for six more months. He was not allowed bail because of his Bulgarian citizenship and his lack of address registration in Greece. On March 31 Iskra Rigatou was arrested and after being interrogated she was released on bail of 3000 euro and an order to leave Greece. However, she still resides in her flat in Sofia and travels freely between Bulgaria and Greece."

Read much more at: http://barovsky.ludost.net/documents/BarovskyCase.pdf

Note: On January 11, Nikolai Barovsky was acquitted by the Thessaloniki district court of smuggling counterfeit euro.