News / Russia says: WE'LL NUKE POLAND [150]

@pweeg


If Russia vanished, then Poland would have a very interesting neighbor- China. With a territory of around 30 mln sq. km, with 80 % of the world resources... I bet it would be interesting situation.

In the interest of Poland is Russia to exist, but to be under control of the West- like in Yelcin days.

Life / Comparing Poland and Romania [108]

Of course that Bulgarians do not share the same DNA- this is due to the fact that initially the state was established by the Proto-Bulgarians (Bulgars) as well as the mixtures with various tribes, for example Cumans.

It is absolutely wrong to speak about "pure blood" on the Balkans- this is valid also of Romanians. It is important what one thinks of him/herself,and not what the DNA speaks.

Concerning the comparison Poland-Romania- Poland is more advanced economically, with higher salaries. Poland is also more "northern" whereas Romania stands closer rather to Italy in mental respect.

Life / Comparing Poland and Romania [108]

Polonius, you presented a really stupid "theory". Bulgaria existed long before the Ottoman Empire, long before Poland. So how Bulgarians are "Turks speaking Slavic"? How come?

How would you feel if called "A German speaking Slavic language"?

If you refer to the Proto-Bulgarians, it is disputable whether they were of Iranian or of Turkic origin. At any rate, Turkic people are not Turkish. They were a great union of tribes one of which were contemporary Turks; but not identical.

Life / Expats` opinion on alien immigration to Poland - for or against? [87]

So the conclusion is... the immigrants in Poland are AGAINST immigration to Poland? Guys, what do the phrases "Poland for the Polish people" or "Great Catholic Poland" mean for you? You are all Polish and Catholics?

Work / Wroclaw, Poland or Prague, Czech? Which is better for jobs and studies? [5]

Well, you are interested in statistics. Yes, the unemployment rate is low but this does not mean that you will find a job easily. It is easy only in the big cities, and still you will need to learn Polish at a good level.

I personally would not make any decision based upon statistics, for me this is stupid.

History / History behind Poland and Turkey's Relationship [118]

I doubt that Bismarck has said such a stupid sentence. This is so for 2 reasons: first, because he maintained the theory of the "balance of powers" (there should be equilibrium between the Great powers, meaning every new gaining should be compensated); and second, because Balkans were important as the "gate" to Bosphorus, and particularly the connection between the Black sea and the Mediterranean sea. All Great powers had their interests on the Balkans and supported different Balkan states at different times. Both Balkan wars were just the "preliminary round" of the Great war.

The same is today. There is a serious clash between the interests of the USA and Russia. During the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, for instance, Russians used their navy located in the Black sea. This was decisive for the final victory of the Russian forces. Today the Black sea region is important because of the situation in Ukraine. Just think what would the USA have done had the Balkan states not been members of NATO? Thus I cannot agree that the Balkans should be merely ignored. On the contrary: the situation there should be observed carefully, and particularly the ambitions for Great Albania or for a New Ottoman Empire.

History / Alexander the Great - Macedonski. Poland connection? [254]

Nick, I also think that such a topic does not need dozens of pages. It would seem that this is a serious historical controversy, and actually it is not. I suggest stop writing here unless someone appears with "proofs" against the conventional history.

1. Alexander the Great was neither a slav, nor he spoken Slavic language. Probably Slavs were not here before 4-5 century AD.

2. The name "Macedonia" is geographic name, it signifies a territory, not a nation, or a state.

3. Emperor Basilios, fighting against Tzar Samuil, defeated the latter in the 11th century and was called "The Slayer of Bulgarians", not of Macedonians.

4. Macedonians speak a language very near to Bulgarian, although they try to "prove" that Bulgarians... have borrowed the language from them (???) in the 9th century.

5. Macedonia today has its national identity. This is OK for me. Let's everyone has their own self-consciousness. But to "correct" the European history according to your needs is nothing but science fiction. By the way, Poland is also concerned, as Macedonians claim that they are the "ancestors" of all Slavic people, and that Slavic languages have their origin in a proto-slavic language, which is... Macedonian.

And so on, and so on. All this "theory" would be fun if Macedonia today was not separated into Slavic and Albanian part. Instead of protecting themselves against Albanians, they prefer to work on... history. Madness...

History / Alexander the Great - Macedonski. Poland connection? [254]


A very complicated subject. The standard Macedonian language has been invented in 1944 by Blaje Koneski, with the support of a special committee consisting of Serbian and Soviet experts. Its fundament is the dialect of Ohrid and the Western part of the country. The base of standard Bulgarian is the Eastern dialect, and thus the both standards lead to very different vocabulary and grammar. Macedonian alphabet is pretty similar to the Serbian and many words have been inserted from Serbian into Macedonian, in order the both languages to seem more similar. There is one letter which is missing in Macedonian alphabet despite the fact that the language needs it- it is the letter ъ (or shwa, something like Polish y). Interestingly enough, the sound shwa appears in some words but cannot be written, because its presence in the alphabet would mean similarity to Bulgarian alphabet.

Another point is the fact that Macedonian and Bulgarian are the only Slavic languages without use of cases. Centuries ago the population ofthese lands used cases, but they almost disappeared. For that reason we cannot compare the relation between these languages with the relation between any other two Slavic languages.

All that does not mean that Macedonians today are Bulgarians. The both peoples have common history and culture, but Macedonians have chosen to go on their way alone. The problem is that they distort their history too much, which leads to absurd conclusions (the last I read was that all Slavic languages have their origin in some Proto-Macedonian).

Life / Why are Polish so obsessed with Russia [46]


Russia has traditionally good relations with Bulgarians and Serbs. It traces back to the 19th century when the Russians helps us against the Ottomans. Maybe you do not know, but in the Russian imperial court there were several marriages with princesses from Montenegro, tightly connected with Serbian kings. In Bulgaria Russians were respected even during the communist regime and still you could find the monument of the Russian tsar Alexander II opposite the Parliament building in Sofia.

The viewpoint towards a concrete nation is a result from the historical relations. I also know that Czechs dislike Russians, and it is historically justified (if we remember Prague 1968).

Polonia / POLES vs BULGARIANS [160]

A very unjustified comparison. First, how would you define "Pole" and "Bulgarian"? According to their origin? Birthplace? Their consciousness? What about a Bulgarian who has lived in the USA, Canada and France? Is he precisely Bulgarian, or what?

The history shows very similarities between the both nations, and even some meeting points (like Wladislaw Jagelo who died near Varna, or the Polish military who fought for the liberation of Bulgaria in 1877-8). After the Liberation a few Polish emigrants came to Sofia and started their intellectual activities; some of the most popular Bulgarian writers also lived in Poland for short time (to study or just to see the way of living).

In brief, I would like to ask the author of the topic to drop his stereotypes and next time to speak about concrete people, and not about "nations".

@King Athelstan: yes, no one would appoint a gypsy with his/her company; and how we, Bulgarians, manage with 600 000 unemployed gypsyes? It's hard to say, but soon they will start invading Europe. That's why we wanted to restrict their rights, but when we try to do it, someone form the EU comes and tells us off: "You are discriminative, you are racists!" Well, hipocracy, I guess...