Varna's opposition mayor Blagomir Kotsev – whose arrest in July on corruption charges sparked angry demonstrations – has been released after supporters raised the hefty bail sum in hours.

No doubt this is thanks to:

  • Bulgaria being part of the EU - in Turkey, the mayor of Istanbul is still in prison

  • Kotsev being part of a party that in turn is member of the big parties in the europarliament - the ex-mayor of a district in Sofia spent years in jail without getting any political support, from Bulgaria or outside.