[wwosik]

I do not think they would be friendly to any local Bulgarian that wandered into the neighbourhood.

Also "many children don’t attend school." is rather a problem, isn't it. And though I do not know much about Bulgaria, I doubt it's because of the money. I'd assume Bulgaria has free schools and probably social support for financially struggling kids.

There are so many different nations in Europe, some with their nation states, many without. However, Roma or Travellers seem to have the same poor opinion almost everywhere - which is not really shared with any other people. Maybe it is not that fair to picture Bulgarians as the only source of the bad situation in this neighbourhood. Isn't there a way for the community to organise anything, even some basic cleanup?

I didn't particularly care for the quote (from comments):

> I generally try to avoid Western Europe these days – along with most of the Western world, people their are (in general) just trying to convince themselves that the little bubble they exist in is all that matters.

A bit rich coming from an American, but anyway I do not understand what it that supposed to mean. I'd believe it's rather Western Europeans that try to care for the world as the whole, rather than do the least immediately necessary.

[loxs]

You are right. Their situation is mostly of their own doing. And of course it's exacerbated by the discrimination, but they don't have to live in mountains of trash. Also they don't let the police in their communities, neither the taxmen. It's a de-facto state within the state. The state has "left" them the way they prefer. And I am a firm believer that this is the right stance. The only other possible approach would be something like a police state, forced labor and education etc. Free healthcare and social benefits they get even now. They literally do no work and get no jobs because they have enough money to continue their happy existence. I am not being sarcastic here by saying "happy" as it's very much visible in the article. This is the ultimate failure of the well-fare state and it's only going to get worse if the well-fare continues. It's very funny how progressives chant slogans from far away, but no one dares go propose the same ideas in-person (to the Roma).

I am also a member of a minority in Bulgaria (Turkish), but our people are nothing like the Roma - we don't live in ghettos. And although there is a lot of "historically based" hatred towards us here, I can say from experience that the (ethnic) Bulgarians are not that racist (or at least not unreasonably so). Westerners are too soft and entitled to their progressive beliefs which are going to screw them big time.

[tinus_hn]

Roma in the Netherlands don’t keep their children in school either, even though it’s free and compulsory. Unsurprisingly they experience the issues associated with being uneducated people.

[EB-Barrington]

Post author here:

Note that the people that live in Stolipinovo are Bulgarian. I guess you meant to say "I do not think they would be friendly to any non-Roma Bulgarian". That's an assumption that (from experience) is incorrect.

Also, I'm not American, but I get that a lot.

[vetinari]

> Note that the people that live in Stolipinovo are Bulgarian.

Bulgarian (Greek, Macedonian, Hungarian. or other nationalities with nation-states) has two semantic meanings: citizenship and ethnicity. So it is possible for individuals to be Bulgarian citizens, but not of Bulgarian ethnicity. Or vice versa. Someone of Bulgarian descent born in USA won't be necessarily Bulgarian-in-the-citizenship sense.

So in the grandparent case, he obviously meant "non-Roma", without regards to citizenship.

[EB-Barrington]

Yes, it's quite the can of worms when it comes to cultural/ethical/heritage/nationality identities in Bulgaria/the Balkans (and much of Europe).

I was clearly an outsider, I've visited Stolipinovo with other Bulgarians (non-Roma) who are also clearly outsiders, and we were all treated well.

[wwosik]

"non-Roma Bulgarian"

are you quite sure they self-identify as Bulgarian? My experience from a different country is a different one.