It would have been embarrassing if I had stayed away from Bucharest and Sofia. But these have been places I have tried to avoid once I learned of my predecessor, Gunther Verheugen's soft-headed policies of integrating them without ensuring proper reforms had occurred. What a shock Bucharest is to the senses! We drove to Victoria palace almost at the speed of lightning but it is plain to see that the infrastructure remains a total mess. Someone not knowing the country would assume that a major war had been recently fought in its capital city. What was the Phare money spent on if the capital of an accession country is able to fall into such a dilapidated state? The creaking wagons next to the latest four-wheel drive suggests we haven't been successful in reducing the income gap which exploded so quickly after the fall of communism. Indeed some of the scenes of poverty which I glimpsed reminded me of Angola's capital, Luanda. It was where I enjoyed my political breakthrough, brokering a truce between the warring factions and becoming foreign minister soon after. But, these Balkan swamps could become my political graveyard if I don't watch my step. There is so much work to do here. I was surprised to notice that our delegation has a staff of over 100, the highest for any accession country. Many of them, including the endlessly patient Mr Scheele are British. Was it a good idea to appoint so many from that country given the fiasco that exists in large parts of their public administration? At least Ambassador Scheele hasn't hidden the facts from us so that he can enjoy a quiet life. But perhaps it takes not a phlegmatic Anglo-Saxon but a perceptive Latin to understand the plausible and sinuous politicians and bureaucrats who are adept at concealing the true conditions of things. What a pity my predecessor did not act more decisively when the alarming state of the justice system and the failure to have transparent procedures for elections was pointed out by the delegation in 2004. If they had been, we might not be in the mess we now find ourselves. Maybe we should have a proper investigation about why so many vital reforms remain incomplete or are devoid of content. But that's not the EU's way. The Commission wouldn't want it. They have been suspicious of the Parliament ever since they threw out the Commission headed by Jacques Santer in 1998. I better be careful to avoid getting the blame for the litany of mistakes there have been in our dealings with Bulgaria and Romania. It's only my second visit since I became President of the commission. I could only bring my self to stay a day. But I saw enough. The traffic in Bucharest resembles that of Cairo and the Prime Minister turns out to be a car-dealer. Mr Tariceanu came across as smooth and well-organized. But the degree of infighting here is legendary even among supposed allies. They sabotage each others efforts and the reforms are stillborn. What I hear about the conduct of parties and their obsession with intercepting state funds for their own benefit reminds me of our own deplorable parliamentary republic nearly a century ago. The misrule of the elected politicians enabled Salazar to rule as a dictator for 40 years. But there are no such concerns here. Reading Scheele's reports, it is clear that membership of the European club is viewed as a soft cushion which will enable the permanent political warfare to rage on without any nasty consequences for the politicians. I told them that they would have to forget about a long summer holiday and concentrate on consolidating reform only half completed. But I'm told that what's on their minds instead is spreading their patronage networks to Brussels. There are places in the European parliament to fill and well-paid posts on numerous committees to be allocated. As for the President, he reminded me of the trade-union leaders who used to bring their members to demonstrate outside the Commission in Brussels about our pro-globalisation policies and even smash a few windows. Even after a painful operation, he was lively and opinionated. A big personality indeed, but he is part of the political circus here and the battle with Tariceanu has assumed the stage of a Sicilian vendetta. But at least politics is not the murderous affair that it has become in Bulgaria. I even wondered if, in Sofia, I should wear the bullet-proof vest that I keep in reserve for some of my African trips. It will be terrible if the EU's engagement with these countries, instead of stimulating recovery, consolidates backwardness. I for one won't be buying my second holiday home in the Carpathian mountains, however attractive they look from the air. Nor I think will any of Mr Scheele's colleagues. Have we finally lost our ability to transform countries which have suffered misrule or dictatorship or is there something about this fascinating but tragic land which means that whatever we do will make no difference to its fate?

Tom Gallagher