President Radev: EU should be strongly committed to the fight against corruption in Bulgaria

The European Union should be strongly committed to the fight against corruption and upholding the principles of democracy in Bulgaria, President Rumen Radev said on September 24 during a meeting in the Presidency with members of the Monitoring Group of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament (LIBE), a delegation from which is on a working visit to Bulgaria. Vice President Iliana Yotova also took part in the meeting.

The establishment of the rule of law, the problems with corruption, as well as the mass civil protests last summer in Bulgaria were among the topics of the meeting.

"When young people are on the streets and protest en masse against corruption, they expect unequivocal support from the European institutions," the head of state said.

According to him, in the eyes of young Bulgarians the EU is a pillar of democracy and the rule of law, and when there is no unambiguous reaction to corruption scandals, hope turns into disappointment and leads to the emigration of young Bulgarian people.

The head of state pointed out that the caretaker government, following the principles of transparency, accountability and responsibility, has overcome a number of vicious corruption practices of the previous government, which has restored people's hope that corruption can be fought.

"People want Bulgaria to have a different face," the President stressed, calling for a real commitment from the European institutions to upholding the rule of law in Bulgaria.

As an example, Rumen Radev singled out the specialized courts and prosecutor's offices created following the recommendations of the European Commission, which instead of leading to effective sentences in the fight against corruption in the upper echelons of power, became an instrument of pressure against political and business opponents.

The topic of the passivity of the prosecutor's office on significant corruption scandals in Bulgaria and at the same time the ostentatious activity in other cases was also raised by the MEPs. The President stressed that the issue of the need for accountability of the Prosecutor General and the adoption of an effective mechanism for monitoring his work is on the agenda in society and is consistently raised in the National Assembly.

In response to a question from the members of the European Parliament about the freedom of the media in our country, Vice President Iliana Yotova pointed out that the problems are mostly related to the non-transparent way of financing and distribution of funds by the executive power. The Vice President cited as an example the European funds for communication strategies, which have been used in the past and as a tool for influencing the media. According to her, legislative changes should be considered to prevent such abuses.

The head of the delegation from the European Parliament Sophia in 't Veld expressed his impression that the problems in our country are many, but he sees determination to change that. According to her, "corruption is poisonous" and LIBE members have the ambition to contribute to solving this problem. Sophia in 't Veld expressed hope that the next Bulgarian government would be stable and strive for real reforms.

MEP Clare Daly shared her observations that in Bulgaria EU funds are concentrated in a few rich people. She pointed out that she had visited Bulgaria several times during the mass protests last summer.

"We are disappointed that the European Commission did not intervene," Daly said.

Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva was also among the members of the European Parliament who took part in the meeting with the head of state.

Чуйте последните новини, където и да сте!
Последвайте ни във Facebook и Instagram
Следете и канала на БНТ в YouTube
Вече може да ни гледате и в TikTok
Намерете ни в Google News