Some answers from a Bulgarian

Hello!
I am new to the forum, so excuse me if it is not the right place for this topic.
I am Bulgarian and I wanted to share with you this part of my blog: http://teastorybox.wordpress.com/category/second-class-europeans/
It's called "Second hand Europeans" , but not because I feel second hand - i feel just as European as you. It's because of the way we are treated here by some politicians : )

Welcome Yuliya to the forum......


I suggest that take out the link to your blog and that you contact Ivan or post an introduction in the welcome thread and ask if your blog can be included in the Links thread......

Just the rules......

Everyone here is in the same class, Yuliya. Our Government regards us as Plebs.

Yuliya and I know each other from Twitter, and I'm really delighted that she has decided to join us. She has not always been made welcome in this country by some of the UKIP scum who infest Twitter - petty, brainwashed, cerebrally-charged, 'Little Englander' closet racists, many of whom have relocated from the BNP and the EDL. We have at least one such person on this forum.

Posting a link to a blog (which Steve Walker has done on a number of occasions) is quite acceptable; advertising a personal business interest or another forum is not. If Yuliya would like to re-post her blog here - I've read it and it's very interesting - she is most welcome to do so.

Yuliya - I have come across your blog on Twitter - found it very amusing and thought provoking - hope to hear more from you in due course

Welcome Yuliya. I'm now following your blog.

Elsewhere on Cutting Edge, Ivan has placed a link to Yuliya's blog, part of which made me hoot with laughter when she classified the different types of Bulgarian behaviour abroad. She mentions German friends, but in fact describes too the attitudes of Brits abroad with pinpoint accuracy: viz

I came up with three categories of Bulgarians abroad. I believe that they apply to every nationality living abroad, as my German friends are behaving exactly in the same way:
1. The ones that communicate only with fellow Bulgarians and fail to explore the new culture.
2. Those who are open to all: people from their country, locals and people from the rest of the world.
3. The ones that try to avoid talking with people from their own country and sometimes “forget” their mother language.

Any ex-pat Britons remaining in e.g. Spain will know others who fit neatly into one category or another. Small world!

Some time ago I promised myself to stay away from the Bulgarian/Romanian “invasion” topic, because I can use my energy more efficiently. However, it seems that many English politicians don’t have ideas for better topics to deal with, so I feel obliged to say a couple of things, provoked by the latest publications that describe us in a certain way.
 
We are normal people.
We have jobs, houses, cars, friends, family, running water, etc. that we wouldn’t just leave on the 1st of January, in order to take advantage of the awesome British weather.
The whole EU will be open to us. Not just Luton airport.
Bulgaria and Romania are not the same country. It’s not like Bosnia and Herzegovina, so a difference should be made between the two countries and their populations.
I do understand that the best way to unite a nation is to have a common enemy, but I’m tired of our new role of “invaders.” Talking about something that some people are expected to do at some point in the future is an easy PR. However, the question is: “What will happen if no Bulgarians and Romanians come in January?” Will somebody look like a fool?
When you spend so much time talking about the “influx” of “hordes” of Bulgarians and Romanians on the national and local media, you will most probably be the cause of xenophobia in the society.
A couple of days ago, I got an email from Greg Pulver. He is just an ordinary citizen interested in the effects of immigration. He has found my email after researching the topic and he wanted to ask me some “interesting and challenging questions regarding next years proposed influx.”
 
I’m publishing them along with my answers, because a friend (an English friend – yes, we happen to talk with locals and we don’t live in our own small isolated communities) said he’ll also want to read them and it might be of interest to others, as well.
 
How do you feel about the work and benefit restrictions being lifted next year?
 
This doesn’t affect me in any way. I’m studying in Bristol and I was patient and lucky enough to get my work permit last year. However, I’m extremely glad that any other Bulgarian or Romanian students won’t have to undergo the long procedure of applying for a work permit. When I arrived in the UK last September, the average waiting period for the issuing of the so called “yellow cards” was about 11 months. After a lobbying campaign that we started, it was reduced to 4.
 
We come here to study and many of us want to take the knowledge back home and use it there. However, the average salary in Bulgaria is 260 pounds a month. This means that it is impossible for most of our parents to support us financially and we need a part-time job.
 
When we leave the students aside, I shall say that I don’t except anything to happen after the 1st of January. The picture that some politicians are trying to paint of 29 millions Bulgarians and Romanians landing in London on the 1st of January is absurd for three main reasons:
 
-         There are 27 millions Bulgarians and Romanians altogether
 
-         They all have their lives and it’s not likely that all (or even most) of them will decide to leave it.
 
-         Even if they do (and Bulgaria and Romania just disappear from the map), they have the right to choose between countries from the whole EU.
 
Would you prefer or like to see unlimited arrivals settle perhaps?
 
No. I’m quite sure that Bulgaria and Romania need their intelligent professionals and their normal workers.
 
The question which may follow from that is “But what are you doing here?”
 
I’m here to study and I do plan to go home after I gain some experience which I will be able to use back in Bulgaria.
 
Do you think there should be no real borders and perhaps, within time, a Central EU Govt and no national governments etc?
 
I am not really sure. I can’t imagine a Central EU Government that will be able to function properly. Will we manage to stay united in the diversity?
 
Is it a fair system that allows migrants workers to replace local workforces?
 
Yes, it is. This is one of the main principles or aims, if you wish, of the EU. Everybody can go everywhere and work there. The benefits for the individual are great – it’s so easy to get to know different cultures and to develop yourself in such a globalized world. In the same time the local economy can profit from a broader spectrum of workers and professionals, if it needs them.
 
Is it a fair system that the UK is tied into the EU even if, perhaps, vast majority of the UK wish to leave?
 
I can’t really answer this question, because I don’t know the percentage of the British people that actually want to leave the EU. I’m in favor of an EU referendum, because it will be a democratic and fair solution of the issue.
 
This post officially puts an end of me reading anything more from the British press that concerns Bulgarians or Romanians until I hand-in all my assignments.

(http://teastorybox.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/what-would-you-ask-a-bulgarian-about-the-invasion/)

The US economy would like to receive fresh input of eager workers, and think the British are crazy to ignore such a resource. Southern States who built fences to keep Mexicans out are now wondering how they can share in Mexico's new prosperity as a China Mark 2.

Yuliya. Thank you for that fascinating article. It’s really interesting to read your thoughts on what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the disgusting alarmist propaganda which has been spread by the Tories and UKIP. No doubt when 20 million Romanians and Bulgarians don't arrive in the UK next month, Cameron and 'The Daily Mail' will try to claim the credit for scaring them all away!  
 
Following the previous enlargement of the EU in 2004, a large number of Poles moved to this country, far more than had been anticipated. (Then, as now, the government of the day could only guess as to how many immigrants there would be.) They quickly earned a reputation for being good workers (especially as plumbers!) and they generally behaved very well. Today, Lincolnshire has a high number of East European immigrants and one of the lowest crime rates in the UK. However, many of that influx of immigrants in or soon after 2004 have returned to their native countries.
 
The reasonable concern that some people have is that if there a sudden increase in the population in a particular part of the country, it causes an enormous increase in the demand for schools, hospitals and accommodation. But haven’t other countries had the same problem with migrating Brits? About two million Brits live, work, study or are retired in other EU countries.  Over 800,000 of them are estimated to reside in Spain alone; over one million if you include those who go there for just part of each year. Furthermore, tens of thousands of Brits own second homes right across the EU – for example, over 140,000 are estimated to be in Spain and Italy.
 
Some of us would like to see an end to the ‘Little Englander’ mindset and an embracing of the idea that all Europeans should be able to live, work and be accepted in any part of the continent. It’s ironic how those who call themselves ‘libertarians’ are often the first to wish to deny that right.
 
I don’t want to see a referendum on our membership of the EU, and I hope that Ed Miliband remains firmly against one. Cameron has only floated the idea to buy himself time and in the hope of stopping UKIP from snapping at his heels, but in fact he’s giving credence to Nigel Farage and his nasty little party. Only 7% of UK voters regard the EU as “one of the most important issues”, we pay MPs to make decisions on our behalf, and a close result or a low turnout would not settle the issue once and for all.
 
https://cuttingedge2.forumotion.co.uk/t837-is-it-undemocratic-to-be-opposed-to-an-eu-referendum
 
Those British expats in Spain, especially the pensioners, are worried about what would happen to them if the UK left the EU. The hypocrite Farage says the British in Spain "make a significant contribution to the economy" there and a 'reciprocal deal' could be made  This implies that, if UKIP have their way, British expats could stay in Spain, but the Polish expats and other EU migrants wouldn’t be allowed to stay in Britain. (And there are fewer Polish people in Britain than there are British people in Spain.)
 
This blog puts the record straight on a few of the lies being peddled by right-wingers and their allies in the gutter press:-
 
http://jondanzig.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/what-nigel-farage-told-british-expats.html

Source: YouTube

If the "Little Englanders" prevail, that is precisely what England will become. Little.

Chaotic scenes as UK Border Agency staff struggle to cope with the tidal wave of Roma and Bulgarians entering the UK:-