site.btaJustice Minister Denies Suspicions that EU Review of Bulgarian Prosecution Service May Have Been Sabotaged

Justice Minister Denies Suspicions that EU Review of Bulgarian Prosecution Service May Have Been Sabotaged

Sofia, June 1 (BTA) - A planned EU review of the Bulgarian prosecution service has been postponed upon a request by the European Commission, Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the Reformist Bloc expressed their suspicion that the review may have been sabotaged by the executive government or the prosecution service itself.

The Bloc's Radan Kanev urged Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to explain why the review has been delayed. According to the Prosecution of Bulgaria, the EU prosecutors were to start their mission in the country at the beginning of this week, but it was postponed because they had to sort out many technicalities concerning the method of the review. Kanev demanded to know what these technicalities are and whether the Bulgarian side has changed the conditions unilaterally.

He argued that if the delay was caused by the executive government in Bulgaria, Prime Minister Borissov must say who is responsible for the "failed mission." "And if the responsibility rests with the Bulgarian prosecution service, we should consider measures of a very different kind," Kanev added.

The Reformist Bloc suspects a last-minute attempt by the Bulgarian side to alter the approved rules in order to rob the review of its meaning, which apparently elicited a sharp reaction from the European Commission and caused it to postpone the review in order to keep it from degenerating into just another empty formality. Postponing the review until the end of June, if not later, means that its results cannot come in time for the writing of the next European Commission report on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) which monitors Bulgaria's performance in the field of justice and the fight against corruption and organized crime, Kanev reasoned. This means that the CVM report will be negative again, he added.

Justice Minister Zaharieva said there is no tension between Bulgaria and the European Commission. She said the postponement was requested by the Commission. Zaharieva noted that this is the first review of its kind to be conducted in the country. It has taken a long time to elaborate the method and find serving EU prosecutors knowledgeable of the situation in Bulgaria to carry out the review, she said.

The minister recalled that she had insisted on more than one occasion that the EU experts should come as early as possible. Already in April it was announced that the necessary preparations will be made, but still the experts failed to arrive.

The Justice Minister said Wednesday's statements by MPs came as a surprise to her.