October 4, 2006
Bulgaria gets its own Borat
The British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Ali G) has caused a diplomatic storm with his latest film lampooning the central Asian state of Kazakhstan. His creation Borat, a fake TV reporter, was denounced by Nursultan Nazarbayev’s man in London, Erlan Idrissov on Wednesday.
He attacks Borat for saying that in his country women are kept in cages, and that wives can be bought from their fathers for 15 gallons of insecticide.
Perhaps the comic should have chosen a Bulgarian. Dimitar Stoyanov, a nationalist politician representing the EU’s newest member in the European parliament, has provoked furore with his comments last week about gypsies. He rather spoiled celebrations of Sofia’s acceptance by asserting to MEPs that a Roma member nominated for a prestigious award was not very attractive and too fat to be an authentic gypsy. He said most girls were beautiful and "you can buy one (around 12-13 years old) to be your loving wife. The best of them are very expensive - up to E5,000 apiece ".
As to her weight, he asked: "Doesn’t she share the terrible suffering her people are bearing all around Europe, the poverty, the miserable conditions and unemployment?"
He also attacked as politically correct Livia Jaroka, who at 31 has won a young leader award from the World Economic Forum. The Hungarian is the first female Roma MEP.
Stoyanov himself is only 23, a prominent member of a dissident political family who represents Attack, the nationalist group which is rapidly gaining support. He has been nominated by parliament in Sofia and will need to stand for election if he is to become an MEP when Bulgaria enters the EU on January 1. The centre-left government is very nervous of the rightwing challenge and has not been slow in fanning the controversy.
His remarks prompted outrage and elicited a feeble apology. On Tuesday Josep Borrell, the parliament’s speaker, wrote to Stoyanov to demand a full apology, saying his views are not in line with "European values".
The big problem is they may not be too far out of line with Bulgarian values, confirming some parliamentarians’ beliefs that the country is not ready to join the EU in January. Roma are effectively second-class citizens there, as they are across the Balkans.
The whole affair may not have done much for one of the sponsors of the Parliament magazine awards - the Bulgarian tourist board.
Andrew Bounds
