Dirk van Harten

For a few minutes it was world news: Bulgarian border police had shot dead an asylum seeker from Afghanistan.

In Romania the relations between church and state are warm. Too warm, according to some. "A lot of government money goes to the Romanian Orthodox church. The church uses that money to strengthen it's own position."

Bulgarians with problems don't have access to therapy.

In Bulgaria, communists have never given up on power.

They have to pay their foreign suppliers in cash, while their customers ignore their bills for six months. And banks no longer give credit. If necessary, Greek businessmen loan money on their mother's house. Without much success. The wheels of bankruptcy are spinning.

It is cold for the time of the year in Bucharest. The sky is grey and a raw wind blows through the dirty streets of the old centre. Nobody can ignore it any longer: Romania is in a deep crisis.

The man in the photograph stares frightened into the camera. His right eye is swollen. At other pictures he shows bruises on his hands, arms, buttocks and back. It's the result of five hours of 'interrogating' by the Bulgarian police.

The Greeks are angry. Angry with their government, angry with the world around them and angry with themselves. Wednesday all over Greece Greeks took to the streets to show their anger. Public institutions stayed closed; hospitals and public transport worked Sunday shifts.

Reading the Dutch Survey it seems the relations between Bulgaria and the Netherlands couldn't be warmer. In Dutch media and society however, the image of Bulgaria can do with some serious polishing.

Some shady characters participate in Bulgaria's elections, on Sunday. Like Galev en Hristov, suspected of racketeering