site.btaPrime Minister Talks with EU Anti-Fraud Chief

Prime Minister Talks with EU Anti-Fraud Chief

Sofia, October 19 (BTA) - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met with
 European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) Director General Giovanni
Kessler in Sofia on Monday, the Cabinet's Information Service
reported. They discussed the priorities of the Bulgarian
government in the fight against corruption and fraud.

Borissov and Kessler looked at some of the more important
results achieved by OLAF, which has conducted 10 missions and
on-site checks in Bulgaria so far this year. They concurred that
 both sides would stand to gain from deepening the practical
cooperation between OLAF and the Bulgarian special services to
protect the financial interests of the EU.

The two agreed that the talks should continue at expert level in
 order to discuss concrete partnership parameters.

Later in the day, Kessler was among the speakers at a public
debate in Sofia about fighting corruption at the national and EU
 level. The debate was organized by Deputy Prime Minister for
European Policy and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva.

Kuneva said she will resubmit an anti-corruption bill to the
National Assembly. She noted that because of the delay of the
bill, the European Commission's report on Bulgaria this year
cannot be more positive than last year's report. As soon as the
October 25 local elections are over, Kuneva will host
discussions with the parliamentary parties about the
controversial questions concerning the anti-corruption bill. She
 sees two main points of contention: one is the question of what
 to do about anonymous corruption alerts, and the other is who
should elect the chairperson of the future National Corruption
Prevention Office, which will be established by this law.

Kuneva said she understands the concerns about anonymous
corruption alerts and promised that her team will devise
additional guarantees against the possible abuse of such alerts.
 As for the question of who should elect the National Corruption
 Prevention Office chair, it is subject to further discussion,
but there is no doubt that the Office itself must be independent
 of the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly, she
said.

Kessler said the fight against corruption is a major indicator
of whether a government is successful or not. He said the three
elements of a successful anti-corruption strategy are
prevention, detection and punishment. He believes the government
 should set up an anti-corruption body bound by a general
strategy. Then, there should be a climate that discourages
corrupt thinking, Kessler said.

The OLAF chief believes that corruption is a universal problem
and Bulgaria is not alone in trying to deal with it. It is
therefore important to transfer good practice across national
borders, he said.