NATURA 2000
The one thing I like about Bulgaria is the total predictability of its rulers.

The total mishandling of the Natura 2000 issue was an absolutely perfect textbook example of how things work in this country. First the Government tables a fairly decent proposal, only to have it ripped to pieces by pressure groups representing the true financial rulers of Bulgaria.

After all, golf courses and apartments far outweigh the natural resources and beauty of this country. The stupidity of it all is that the only reason these tourist developments in Bulgaria take place is the fact that the country is so beautiful. It is definitely not the weather, since both the summer and winter seasons are fairly short and for sure it is not due to long-term vision since hardly any of the investors are interested in tourism.

Most just look for a quick return on investment. So the reality is that the future of Bulgaria's beauty spots will be similar to the Costa Brava and places south, just memories of beautiful beaches on postcards dating pre-1965.

I heard various discussions about corruption and incompetence; I hope it is corruption, since incompetence would be unforgivable in view of the issues at stake.

PAYMENT IN NATURA
Tuesday April 10 marked six months since the firing by bTV of Ivo Indjev, the journalist who dared to ask the president about anonymous corruption allegations that had been made against him.

Purvanov immediately remembered all that he had learnt from his Soviet teachers and had Ivo sacked. To be honest, I am not even interested if Purvanov received the alleged two apartments in the Business Park Sofia in Mladost or not, or if he or his wife just visited the building site out of personal interest or not, or if he is connected to the wrong people or not.

I do believe that sacking a journalist for asking questions is a crime and should not be overlooked. Thus it is my intention to commemorate Indjev's departure from bTV every six months.

THE NATURE OF LOVE
The story of John and Sonia Slater (The Sofia Echo, April 13) hit a cord with me since my wife Lilly and I have had all sorts of reactions to our relationship, which still continue today even though we will be married five years this year and have been together for almost eight.

What is the British ermbassy playing at, are Bulgarians still to be treated as second class Europeans? To question a legal marriage by using some bureaucratic technicalities echoes the sounds of days-gone-by in Bulgaria.

It is about time that the Bulgarian Government starts defending the rights of its citizens within the EU and the world at large.

The immigration restrictions into the UK are totally unfair, especially since the door to Bulgaria has completely been opened and substantial numbers of Brits have been welcomed to come and live and work here.

PARKING
The ongoing enforcement of parking laws in the centre of Sofia has my total support especially since I don't own a car...
I actually enjoy watching cars being towed away from places where they no longer should be.

To my surprise though there is some law that allows cars to be parked on the pavement behind the no-parking signs. This Bulgarian phenomenon can best be viewed on the Patriarch Evtimii pavement near NDK. I heard rumours that daily deals can be made with parking attendants but to repeat that would be "overstepping the main principles of journalism", for which Ivo Indjev was sacked.

Anyway, progress comes one parking ticket at a time.

Koos Jan Schouten (1954) was born in Amsterdam, has lived in Bulgaria since 1998, owns webfactorybulgaria.com and has been married since 2002 to his lovely Lilly.