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“Let’s do something for Bulgaria now!” – called the Romanian MEP of the Liberal Group Ramona Strugariu during the hearing of the vice president of the EC Vera Yourova in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).
Strugariu compared the situation in the country with that of Belarus:
“In Bulgaria, people are detained without food or water, without access to medicine. It is a disgrace for the EU!” He said, listing numerous scandals in the administration, including Apartmentgate.
Sophie Int Veld MEP, chair of the Democracy Monitoring Group, also called for continued pressure on Bulgaria.
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov did not appear at the hearing on Bulgaria on August 28, although he was invited. “We sent written questions to the Bulgarian authorities after the monitoring group started a hearing on Bulgaria. How can you be 111 in terms of freedom of the press and effectively fight corruption? I don’t understand that,” he commented.
“We don’t know exactly what the new rule of law mechanism will contain, how strict it will be,” Int Weld said, urging Bulgaria to maintain the existing verification and cooperation mechanism. “We can’t take off our old shoes before buying new ones. There is a danger that some progress will be lost.”
For the cooperation and verification mechanism for Bulgaria to be completed, concrete results must be achieved, especially in the fight against high-level corruption. It is too early to set a date for its removal, we need to see if the events in Bulgaria will not lead to the reversal of progress, said EU Commissioner Yourova.
“I categorically deny the accusation that I am an accessory to Boyko Borissov. Please do not insult me in this way. I do my job in a totally transparent and objective way,” Yourova commented.
His words were prompted by the particularly sharp statement from the far-left group’s MEP Claire Daly, who said “either you are completely incompetent or strongly subordinate to Boyko Borissov.”
“European money allows certain people to be very corrupt, and the European Commission takes no action, which amounts to complicity,” the Daily said.
