site.btaParliament Disbands Prematurely Ad Hoc Committee of Inquiry into Russia's, Turkey's Alleged Interference in Bulgaria

Parliament Disbands Prematurely Ad Hoc Committee of Inquiry into Russia's, Turkey's Alleged Interference in Bulgaria

Sofia, March 23 (BTA) - Just a month after its formation, the Ad Hoc Committee of Inquiry into All Facts and Circumstances Related to Allegations of Interference, on the Part of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, in the Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria was prematurely disbanded by Bulgaria's Parliament. The vote was 112-4 with 7 abstentions.

The National Assembly established the Ad Hoc Committee on February 19. The motion was entered by 72 MPs of GERB, BSP-Left Bulgaria, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the Bulgarian Democratic Centre and the Patriotic Front, and was carried, 126-19 with 13 abstentions. The 16-member Committee, chaired by Valentin Radev MP of GERB, was given two months to complete its work.

On February 27, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov asked GERB Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov to use all diplomatic mechanisms in Parliament and to assess the need for the setting up of the Ad Hoc Committee, arguing that it will sour Bulgaria's relations with Russia and Turkey. The two countries, too, reacted strongly to the initiative.

"The necessary protection of Bulgaria's independence and sovereignty, as well as protection against any external interference whatsoever in domestic politics, is part of the responsibilities of the competent government authorities," Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Valentin Radev pointed out in the reasons to the motions for disbanding the body. "If necessary, the National Assembly Foreign Policy Committee could take over the function of clarifying existing facts and circumstances related to allegations of interference by Russia and Turkey in Bulgaria's domestic policy," the position reads further on.

The Patriotic Front opposed the disbandment of the ad hoc body. "We cannot tolerate being remote-controlled by Ankara," said MP Iskren Vesselinov. On behalf of his Parliamentary Group, he moved that the committee be renamed, replacing "Russia and Turkey" by "other countries", but the motion was defeated in the plenary vote.

Ataka seconded the Patriotic Front's idea. MP Stanislav Stanilov added that an inquiry is also needed into all attempts at interference in Bulgaria's domestic policy by foreign ambassadors.

BSP-Left Bulgaria was in favour of disbanding the Committee, just as it opposed its formation. Part of the Left MPs did not vote at all. According to MP Yanaki Stoilov, National Assembly standing committee should continue to raise some of the issues that led to the setting up of the ad hoc body. BSP-Left Bulgaria will ask for an express meeting of the Foreign Policy Committee at which Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is to be given a hearing on a meeting in December 2015 "involving the Prime Minister of Turkey and the then floor leader of a parliamentary group," at which they probably discussed, among other things, questions concerning the domestic policy agenda. The reference was apparently to a meeting of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during his visit to Bulgaria with the then Movement for Rights and Freedoms floor leader Lyutvi Mestan.

Atanas Atanassov MP of the Reformist Bloc disagreed with the reasoning for the disbandment of the Committee. "Both when it was formed and now, the real arguments behind this parliamentary move were not spelled out," he argued. "The major problem is that when it does not coordinate its actions with the Prime Minister's views, the National Assembly has to alter its resolutions later on," he explained.

Independent MP Velizar Enchev said he contemplated moving for an ad hoc committee of inquiry into Bulgaria's embroilment and the deployment of Bulgarian military in Iraq 13 years ago.