Kövesi after the meeting with Bulgaria’s PM Petkov: Council of Ministers will become a point of contact with the European Public Prosecutor's Office

The Council of Ministers will become a point of contact with the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which is a clear signal of strong commitment at the highest level, European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Kövesi, said after her meeting with Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, on March 16.

According to Kövesi, the European Public Prosecutor's Office wants to achieve this in all member states. This is a signal of political will to fight financial fraud, she added.

It is important that Bulgaria does not have a monopoly on the authorities that can send signals to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, Kövesi added.

She pointed out that they have received many signals for violations from members of the public and now it is time for the Bulgarian authorities to start working "on sensitive and important cases together with them".

The European Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into 120 cases, which will be described in its annual report to be released at the end of this week or early next week.

They have received information about fraud with EU funds, mostly related to public procurement, abuse related to agricultural subsidies, fraud in construction, post-Covid recovery funds, Kövesi said.

In her words, at the meeting with PM Petkov, various ways of improvement for mutual work were discussed, including in legislation.

"Petkov's idea to set up a special group to work with the European Prosecutor's Office to guarantee autonomy is something we should strive for. We will make progress on fighting fraud and crimes committed by organised groups," she said.

Kövesi thanked Petkov for his determination and vision in the fight against corruption.

"We share the same priorities, we speak the same language. If there is no detection of fraud, there will be no investigation. This is the starting point," she said.

She said that since her first visit to the country, several channels for reporting suspected fraud had been established.

She also said that she had full confidence in the Bulgarian delegated prosecutors who were independent and professional.

Kiril Petkov described their conversation as comprehensive and in a very constructive spirit and with the common ambition that they will work together to combat irregularities, corruption and any crime related to EU funds.

The mandate that the European Public Prosecutor's Office has is that all crimes after 2017 can be investigated, which is related to European money, he added.

In his words, Kövesi has assured him that the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the Bulgarian government will work together to achieve real results.

A week ago, Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, announced that the Council of Ministers will become a direct point of contact to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, so that signals from the Council of Ministers will go directly to the European Public Prosecutor's Office without any intermediaries.

According to Petkov, this new relationship between the two institutions will enable signals related to corruption and misuse of EU funds to be sent in an extremely expeditious manner.

images by Council of Ministers; Dessilava Kulelieva

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