site.btaPrime Minister Borissov Describes Delay of Legislative Changes Expected by EC as Huge Weakness of Bulgarian Government

Prime Minister Borissov Describes Delay of Legislative Changes Expected by EC as Huge Weakness of Bulgarian Government

Brussels, February 18 (BTA Correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - Bulgaria has accomplished quite a few things. The European Commission acknowledges the division of the Supreme Judicial Council into a college of judges and prosecutors, the enhanced influence of its Inspectorate, as well as the admission competitions, said Prime Minister Boyko Borissov here on Thursday, speaking to Bulgarian journalists.

"Unfortunately, it turned out that for about one year we have not been drafting laws, which is a huge weakness of the Bulgarian Government and which is why I am placing huge hopes on Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, with her expert potential and the Council, which she established," Borissov commented. The Prime Minister outlined a few laws as being exceptionally important, including the one for countering terrorism, the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, and the one about the Judiciary. "It turned out they have not been worked on at all, let alone be ready, and I wanted us to have them completed by February," Borissov explained.

The Prime Minister noted that the bureau for countering corruption is proposed to be very active and composed of some existing structures. Borissov insists that this bureau will be completely elected by Parliament and will work solely under parliamentary control, so that it can be distanced as much as possible from the Council of Ministers. Borissov also wants the commission for the forfeiture of illegally acquired assets to be included in the anti-corruption bureau. The plan is for the bureau to inspect assets and promptly return to the State those acquired illegally and via corruption.

"We are very motivated and I hope that we manage to complete these laws by April. We wanted to be separated from Romania (under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM)) during my previous term," Borissov said, recalling that back then the EC was issuing reports about Romania every six months, compared to every 18 months for Bulgaria, which he described as an assessment for his previous government's good work. Borissov noted that back then there were calls for separating Bulgaria and Romania. "For better or for worse, we are neighbours with Romania, both regarding Schengen and under the CVM. It is no coincidence that I am expecting supervising prosecutors to be sent by the EC by the end of March, who can help under the mechanism," he said, voicing hope that everything needed will be put into full motion by the middle of the year.