Romanian Meat-Rolls Beat Bulgarian Cucumbers in Strasbourg

Romania and Bulgaria sent their parliamentarians with observer status to the European Parliament in Strasbourg with country-reports in one hand and traditional appetizers in the other.
The cheese pie of one country was pitted against the salami of the other; the meat rolls of Romania against the red wine of Bulgaria; the promotional video clip of one country against the posters of the other, while jazz singer Anca Parghel had no Bulgarian artist opposite her.

The two countries mobilized not only their parliamentary representatives but also their diplomatic offices catering to the displays of both progress in drafting and implementing European law and centuries-long tested culinary delights.
The indoors courtyard of the European Parliament hosted a joyful gathering of MEPs assessing progress in Justice and Home Affairs the two countries had made while sampling cheese pies, salami uniquely spiced and red and white wines from vine-yards both north and south of the River Danube …
I am sure this mix had the power to turn the dead-line for accession, set on 1st January 2006, into a very realistic one.

The Romanian stand had an abundance of little flags, Romanian on one side, European on the other; leaflets inviting to discover the "ever surprising Romania"; and promotional video-clips obviously made with hope of white-washing the public perception that Romania is the country of stray-dogs, abandoned children and hotel managers going for a rip-off of their customers.

It was obvious the personnel of the Romanian Representative Office at the Council of Europe were up in arms for the event, from diver to ambassador. Still, some obvious faux-pas were committed from too much eagerness to please. For instance, among traditional cuisine, Romanians also provided sandwiches with smoked salmon and shrimp, which made the representative of the Strasbourg City Hall wonder when they turned to be a Romanian trade-mark.

Still, the bulk of the audience was less picky, in that they picked and chose what they found it was best: the Romanian food, the Bulgarian wine, and then again the Romanian entertainment - in this case, the jazz concert of Parghel. She received warm applause and whistles of contentment, and was blinded by the many flashes of the cameras of MEPs, Romanian and Bulgarian observers, civil servants during their lunch break or plain visitors.

So, Romania scored a little bit higher than Bulgaria did, at least in the artistic competition.
That is no telling, however, on where the two countries would stand after their technical evaluation will be completed by the European Commission.
Still, Geoffrey van Orden, the EP Rapporteur for Bulgaria, hinted as much that Sofia would lack behind Bucharest, this time, on a tally of their respective reports. We only have to wait a little more to see …