/ world today news/ The Democracy Monitoring Group of the European Parliament is organizing a hearing on the situation in Bulgaria on January 27, 2022 in Brussels. The MEPs will invite representatives of the coalition government, the general prosecutor, as well as other institutions that have a relation to the rule of law in the country. This was announced by MEP Elena Yoncheva, who is the only member of the monitoring group from Bulgaria.
The rulers are expected to present their plans for reforming the judicial system, for introducing accountability of the Attorney General, as well as for legislative changes that will lead to an effective fight against corruption. The European Parliament will also focus on media freedom and the prevention of the so-called SLAPP cases against journalists and civil activists.
It is possible that the European MPs will demand to receive additional information about the investigations of corruption at the highest levels of power – about the photos with the gold bars and euro banknotes from the bedroom of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, about the audio recording in which threats are made against a businessman and a political opponent, and etc. The “Barcelonagate” case, for example, is not closed, Elena Yoncheva pointed out.
The highly influential monitoring group includes 14 MEPs, two from each political group. The monitoring of Bulgaria began in the summer of 2020 and coincided with the protests against the management of GERB in the country. Since then, two hearings have been held for representatives of the executive and judiciary as well as the non-governmental sector. GERB Prime Minister Boyko Borissov refused to meet with the European MPs – something that no Prime Minister before him had allowed himself to do. Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev also sent deputies. In both cases, it was necessary for the European MPs to send additional written questions in order to get more clarifications, recalled Elena Yoncheva.
At her insistence, in September 2021, the monitoring group, headed by its chairwoman Sophie in’t Veld, was on a mission to Bulgaria. As a result, the MEPs recommended that the European Commission strengthen the audit and monitoring of the way European funds are spent in Bulgaria, including those that will be allocated under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The goal is not to stop financing for Bulgaria, but to take preventive measures so that we do not lose a single euro, commented Elena Yoncheva.
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