AFP: Tough East-West dilemma for next Bulgarian government
The Russian songs blared and men in red USSR and Putin T-shirts danced as 7,000 people gathered for a recent celebration of all things Russian. But this was not Russia, this was EU member Bulgaria.
The event served as a reminder that 25 years after Communism, ties between Bulgaria and Russia remain strong – both have the Orthodox Church, the Cyrillic alphabet and their languages are similar.
But it also brought home that whoever wins the general elections on October 5 has to walk a tightrope trying to keep happy both their gas-rich Slavic cousins in Moscow and Bulgaria's bankrollers in Brussels.