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© Tsvetelina Belutova, Capital
The European Parliament has denied the accusations by the Bulgarian authorities about a meeting of the Democracy Monitoring Group (DRFMG) last week.
“The meeting was held behind closed doors. However, several participants, as well as other non-participants, released details of the discussion,” said a statement from LIBE’s Civil Liberties Commission, of which the DRFMG is in fact a subcommittee. “In this context, we take note of the statement of the Bulgarian prosecution and other participants. All statements reflect their observations only and exclusively. These statements contain allegations that are not shared by DRFMG.”
The official statement of the Prosecutor’s Office on this fact says that “The discussion was organized (…) at the suggestion of Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev discuss current challenges before the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria in the context of increased political and media pressure “.
“The meeting was organized on DRFMG’s own initiative and focused on recent developments in Bulgaria in relation to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, in particular freedom of the media, the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers, “said the EP.
“DRFMG will inform the EP Commission for Civil Liberties (LIBE) on the follow-up as a whole, our conclusions from the previous hearing, as well as the responses to the written request, which will be provided to the Bulgarian authorities,” the statement concluded.
The official EP statement came in detail two days after Vice President Katarina Barley said the Bulgarian authorities were spreading “fake news”. Commenting on the last session of the monitoring group before the entire LIBE committee, Barley said: “She was concerned not only about the content but also about the reaction of the government that publishes absolutely false information about what is being discussed is actually false news. “
Many in Bulgaria exercise their democratic rights and express their dissatisfaction with the government. The right to peaceful protest, freedom of the media, free and fair elections and the rule of law are among the fundamental values of the EU. The Bulgarian government is called upon to respond to the legitimate demands of its citizens. The European Parliament will continue to closely monitor the situation of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Bulgaria.
EP Vice-President, by Dnevnik
Who claimed that
Last week, the prosecutor’s office issued a statement for the first time stating that the meeting was organized at the request of chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev.
Later, MEP Emil Radev (who was not present at the event) commented to “24 Chasa” that MEPs had condemned the use of gallows, coffins and body bags during the protests in Bulgaria, and that “judging by the response Among EP colleagues, among the main problems raised mainly by NGOs were discrimination against Roma, the rights of the LGBT community, the Istanbul Convention, which our country has not ratified, as well as cases in Roma neighborhoods related to the imposition of quarantine and destruction of buildings “.
Without directly mentioning Radev, the EP practically denied it.
Following these remarks, Dnevnik sent questions to Radev’s office and the GERB / EPP group of MEPs on Monday, but there has been no response so far. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not answer questions about the meeting either (Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform, Ekaterina Zaharieva, was one of the participants).
Whats Next
Next week in the entire LIBE committee there will be a debate on the rule of law in Bulgaria. It will take place on September 10 and will be attended by the Vice President of Transparency and Values of the European Commission, Vera Yourova, her office confirmed to Dnevnik.
The discussion at LIBE will take place on the initiative of MEP from the socialist group Elena Yoncheva, he told Dnevnik. “It was a difficult battle, as we encountered resistance from the European People’s Party (EPP, of which GERB is a family),” Yoncheva said.
Yourova was an EU Commissioner for Justice in the Juncker Commission, and in Ursula von der Leyen’s office she was promoted to Vice President for Values and Transparency. One of its main tasks is to maintain the rule of law and democratic systems in the Member States. Together with her colleague Didier Reynders, she is the other EU commissioner closely involved in drafting the reports on the rule of law in the member states, which will be published later this month.
She is also one of the EU commissioners who have publicly stated that they want EU countries to receive funds from the recovery fund and the next budget only if they have sufficient mechanisms to deal with corruption and a well-functioning judiciary. “The suspension of money is something that I would not like to see, but we must have some guarantee in our legal system that if things go very badly in a Member State, the taxpayers’ money cannot be paid,” Yourova said in a meeting. with the EU justice ministers in July.
Yoncheva and his colleague Radan Kanev from the EPP have collected the necessary signatures for a debate on the situation in Bulgaria and in the plenary hall of the European Parliament, he added. “The date is not yet known, as it is decided by a presidential council. I hope the EPP does not use procedural tricks and postpone it.”
