Hidden in the alpine meadows of the western Bulgarian highlands, the village of Kopilovtsi is about as far from Brussels as it is possible to get. 

But Ivan Haralampiev, who has spent most of his life and raised his family in this remote frontier village, says he has a blunt question for the EU’s leadership. 

“I’d like you to ask them, if they kill my cow are they going to give me a new one?” he said, addressing the European Commission via the Telegraph. 

“Look, she’s crying,” he said, changing the subject in front of Penka, the five-year-old bovine facing possible execution. “The stress has been terrible for both of us.”

The tale of Penka the cow, who was sentenced to death by over zealous border…

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