[ Sofia Absurdities ]

The easiest way to make a whole capital to hate the American President is to invite him to pay a visit.

Sofia will be blocked between 9-11 June because of the expected visit of the President George Bush. A total of 3500 police officers and over 180 specialized machines will take care of the security in the capital. As many again will be the servants of the Bulgarian National Guard Service and their American colleagues.

Sofia will be divided into two security zones. The first zone features restricted access. Access to the Presidential office, the Council of Ministers building and the archaeological museum, which are situated in the zone, will be forbidden during these 3 days. The restrictions will apply to all vehicles. The second security zone will include Sofia Airport and a number of residential districts - Boyana, Mladost, Dragalevtsi and Studentski grad. Access to these areas will be restricted as well.

People working or living in these two zones will have to show their identity card and make sure that they are included in a special list.

From the Ministry of Internal Affairs are unable to say what kind of documents should be presented in front of the policemen and who will approve the lists with people working in the mentioned zones. It is also not clear how the clients of banks and companies will be able to reach their offices on Monday.

At every crossing in the restricted areas policemen will check the documents of the passing citizens. People living or working in the restricted zones are advised to take off their cars because they could be taken by the police as a threat. But nobody advices you where to leave your car during these three days.

Public transport will continue functioning, but vehicles will stop for unknown periods of time and also bypass some of the stops in the restricted areas. But there is no information when the transport will stop and which stops will be missed because of security reasons. The air traffic above Sofia will also be closed except for the guarding helicopters.

And besides all this mobile phones in the restricted areas will be deafened.

The only working survival kit I could imagine for this absurd situation is to take the Monday-off and to leave for the sea-side this very evening.