Bulgarian Police Sponsors: Rules, Exceptions or Where the Dog Lies Buried

With the start of the week, Bulgarian Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, finally gave in to the EC pressure, and signed the order effectively banning donations to the police from private businesses and individuals.

EC strongly condemned the corrupt donation practice (with even people under investigation allowed to be police sponsors) in its annual report on Bulgaria, prompting Prime Minister Borisov to pledge that the occurrence would be eradicated.

After twists, trepidations and denials, Tsvetanov had no other recourse, but to sign the famous ban.

It is vague, though, how and why the date of September 1 was chosen, instead of making it effective immediately? Maybe a small extension and/or push for those wishing to make the list of protected sponsors?

On the other hand side, according to an investigative journalistic report, in the first half of 2011, the Interior received from donations the staggering for Bulgaria amount of BGN 15 M, all while Bulgarian police in general have low pay, deplorable working conditions, 20-century or older computers, shortage of uniforms, on and on and on...

Understated and underreported, distant from the headlines, remained the fact that the ban allows "few" exceptions such as donations from local municipalities and State-owned structures and companies.

And that's where the dog lies buried... When rules start having exceptions, they often are no longer rules. Cash-strapped, depleted, subsidized Bulgarian municipalities and State companies will donate to the police?

The Bulgarian Dnevnik daily reports that all mayors they were able to talk to declared full readiness to donate, but had no idea where the money would come from... "Some, more gullible, however, said private companies and individuals would donate to the municipality and the latter – to the police..."

As they say in Bulgaria – law and rules are an open gate in an open field...

Now, to the EC and its Spokesperson, Mark Gray, reiterating condemnations of the practice and pointing out "each donation ...is unacceptable, be it money or any kind of material valuables," we certainly seem a bunch of small time cheats going through open gates on an open field somewhere in the outskirts of Europe.

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