Sir
Sometime in the mid 1990s, when I first came to live in Bulgaria, the first present I bought for myself was a small Aiwa portable radio. It has been my most treasured possession for all these years, apart from the fact that it needs three batteries instead of two or four, which is rather irritating. It has been tuned only to the BBC World Service for all these years and woe betide anyone in my family who dared to change this. It was turned on every morning at about eight. The world news and other interesting stories blared out, helping us to start our day. It was a small part of our life. We first learned of new world leaders, terrorist attacks in New York, the tsunami, the war in Iraq, world financial crises, sporting triumphs, etc. Now this little plastic box of batteries and wires sits sad and forlorn on my desk, consigned to silence and history by a decision by the media council, and what a strange decision it is. English is arguably the world language now, so why does this council seek to deprive expats and its own citizens of the best in English language broadcasts? Could it be vested interests at work, another rewarding experience for the members of this council?

David Clark
 
Sir
Compliments to Ken Lefkowitz about closing down of BBC broadcasts in Sofia (Letter to the Editor, The Sofia Echo, September 12 2008). However, it's utterly useless. First, because apparently some mutri (mafia) wants the frequency and we know who rules this country. Probably some bigwig in the ministry and the mutri were mates at some party school. Useless also because the paper pushers concerned probably cannot read it, just as little as they can understand the BBC's sophisticated broadcasts. Even more assless because probably no Bulgarian cares. If this happened in The Netherlands or in Scandinavia, there would be a howl of indignation. Bulgarians are so parochial that there is no interest in any foreign media. You have to go to the airport to get serious magazines like The Economist or Der Spiegel. In Holland you get them - and many more - on every main street. But on Slaveikov Square you can buy the antisemitic writings of Henry Ford and some Nikolov, who just copies the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Huib van den Doel
Sofia