site.btaEuropean Parliament Monitoring Group Discusses Situation in Bulgaria

 August 28 (BTA) - A monitoring group of the European
Parliament (EP) held an in-camera discussion on the challenges
facing the Bulgarian prosecution service amid increased
political and media pressure, the Prosecution of the Republic of
 Bulgaria reported on Friday. According to media reports, the
country's authorities were slammed by MEPs for the course of the
 judicial reform and the uncertainties about planned amendments
to the Constitution.

The partly online meeting of the Democracy, Rule of Law and
Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group at the EP Civil Liberties,
Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) was organized at the
proposal of Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev.

Some of the highlights of the meeting were the efforts and the
accomplishments concerning legal cases of high public and media
interest in Bulgaria, the structural makeup of the country's
prosecution service and the powers of the Prosecutor General.

Joining the discussion remotely, Deputy Prosecutor General
Krassimira Filipova said: "Under the Bulgarian Constitution, the
 prosecution service is unified but not centralized. The only
kind of subjection expected from the prosecutors is subjection
to the law. They are not in hierarchic relationships with the
Prosecutor General or their administrative leaders. They are
free to make decisions based on their inner conviction,
regardless of whom the decisions concern, and these decisions
cannot be controlled by the Prosecutor General."

Dutch MEP Sophia in' t Veld (Renew Europe), who chairs the
Monitoring Group, said Bulgaria will remain in the focus of
attention. Emerging from the discussion, she told Euractiv
Bulgaria: "Our group will keep up the discussion on corruption
in Bulgaria. We will send additional questions to many of the
participants [in Friday's meeting] because we did not have
enough time to go into detail. There will be other occasions to
revisit the issue. Next month the European Commission will
present its first annual report on the rule of law in all member
 states."

Another participant in the meeting, Dimiter Stoyanov, who works
with the investigative journalism website Bivol.bg, told
National Radio that the Bulgarian authorities were severely
criticized for the way the country's judicial reform is
proceeding and the uncertainties about future amendments to the
Constitution which many of the participants in the meeting
described as a cause for concern.

Initially, the MEPs expected to hear out Prime Minister Boyko
Borissov, Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev and outgoing Justice
Minister Danail Kirilov on the fight against corruption in
Bulgaria. Instead of them, however, the discussion was joined by
 Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva,
 Deputy Prosecutor General Krassimira Filipova and Deputy
Justice Minister Dessislava Ahladova. Other participants from
Bulgaria included Nondiscrimination Commission Chairperson Ana
Dzhoumalieva and NGO activists. There were also representatives
of the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe Group of States
against Corruption (GRECO), the European Economic and Social
Committee and the European Commission.

The LIBE Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights
Monitoring Group focuses on threats to democracy, the rule of
law and fundamental rights, as well as the fight against
corruption within the EU, across all member states. RI/NV/LG/VE