Stealing Bulgarian Kids

I believe that what I am going to remark upon hereby is pretty evident and self-explanatory for any sane human being. Yet, I am explicitly going to state what I think, just in case.

If you watch the following VIDEO, chances are you will be appalled by the scene in which what is supposed to be a mother aided by nice Bulgarian policemen and even nicer Polish diplomats tries to literally "confiscate" her two children from their father.

Given the fact that, as visible from the video, the 8-year-old girl named Nikoleta is trying to escape her seizure, and that her 7-year-old brother Pavel actually managed to run away, I believe it is pretty obvious where the two kids feel at home - clearly with their father, and not with a mother franticly trying to grab hold of them.

But according to Bulgarian judges and Polish diplomats, that is not the case. After the troubled father, Todor Vasilev, took his kids from Poland to his native Asenovgrad in Southern Bulgaria two years ago, the apparently loving mother of the children filed a suit claiming he kidnapped them.

From Poland, the legal procedure was transferred to fellow EU member state Bulgaria. And my guess is the Bulgarian magistrates did what every Bulgarian official does when there is some sort of appeal, request, demand, or even a general wondering on part of someone from the EU - namely,... bent over.

After seeing the amateur video, Bulgaria's Justice Minister Tacheva stood up and declared proudly that everything was legal. It might as well be. I wouldn't doubt it, actually. There are so many illegal and morally deplorable, and blatantly unfair things in Bulgaria that are "legal" and sealed by the soundest possible judgment of Bulgarian magistrates that the fate of the two poor and already plenty psychologically traumatized kids is probably just a drop in the sea.

So the kids' stealing is probably legal. But in Bulgaria, and apparently in some other fellow EU/fellow former Eastern Bloc states such as Poland legal doesn't (always) seem to mean right, just, and fair....

I remember when I was 7-8 years old. I can say for sure that at that age I had a pretty good idea of what was good and bad for me, and where I belonged, and where I wanted to be... And so do, I believe, Nikoleta and Pavel, who were trying to claw their way out of their mother's hug... And if a kid wants to get away from their mother's hug, there must be something terribly wrong with the mother...

As visible from the video. You know, there is a video... My European history college professor used to repeat time and again how different Europe's history could have been if someone could pull out a 5-minute tape of Charlemagne. Here we actually have a 12-minute tape which is clearly not fake, and that's gotta count for something, that's gotta mean something and make some difference.

The whole involvement of the Polish Embassy in Sofia and the Polish diplomats is really perplexing to me... If one of the functions of a diplomat is to create a positive image of their nation, driving around Bulgaria, stealing kids, and tossing them on the first plane to Poland doesn't seem to be anywhere near achieving this goal, in my modest opinion.

The role of the Bulgarian state is even more interesting. How did the Bulgarian state go about protecting these two Bulgarian children? By letting one of them be transported illegally out of the country - as Nikoleta's ID documents remained at her father, and by letting the other one escape on its own in a desperate attempt to hide from its seekers?...

The public outrage in Bulgaria is more than warranted, and the Bulgarian public opinion should be organized better in order to influence the situation to find the best plausible option for the two pool and ill-treated kids.

The father, Todor Vasilev, might have not handled the legal situation in the best possible way - given the fact that he was somehow sentenced twice for the alleged kidnapping of his own children. And the courts - in both Poland and Bulgaria - might have not made their best judgments.

All of this is not that important; the most important thing is to find some way to have an objective decision as to what will be the best solution for Nikoleta and Pavel. Especially since both Poland and Bulgaria, not unlike most of the EU, face severe demographic crises, and should really learn how to treat children with all due respect and dignity.