site.btaForeign Policy Committee Members Criticize Foreign Diplomats' Statement on Rejection of Anti-corruption Bill

Foreign Policy Committee Members Criticize Foreign Diplomats' Statement on Rejection of Anti-corruption
Bill

Sofia, September 11 (BTA) - The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee Friday discussed anti-corruption measures with political leaders. Ambassadors of EU countries, Norway, Switzerland and the United States attended the meeting at Parliament's invitation. The MPs of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Patriotic Front, Ataka and ABV criticized the diplomats for their statement on the rejection of an anti-corruption bill. 

The high-level countercorruption bill was rejected on first reading earlier in September. It aimed to establish a National Corruption Prevention Office (NCPO) as a single anti-corruption authority superseding a number of institutions currently active in this field.

On September 7, the EU Ambassadors of the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Cyprus, Spain and Luxembourg, supported by the ambassadors of Norway and Switzerland, issued a joint statement on the rejection of the bill, which said that the rejection without further parliamentary discussion "sends a negative signal in the frame of the fight against corruption". Th ambassadors also said: "The effective fight against corruption is a crucial element of the Rule of Law, and has been put at the top of the agenda by the European Commission in its successive Cooperation and Verification Mechanism reports, endorsed by our governments and the successive governments of the Republic of Bulgaria. We hope the political parties who rejected it (including those that did not vote) will present new ideas as soon as possible to tackle this issue, hence showing this failure does not mean that Members of Parliament disregard the importance of combatting corruption at any level."

The MPs of the BSP, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), the Patriotic Front, the Bulgarian Democratic Centre, Ataka and ABV reiterated their arguments against the bill, the main ones being possible manipulation through anonymous alerts and the proposal that the NCPO head be appointed by the government.

Yanaki Stoilov (BSP-Left Bulgaria) said the ambassadors' statements on various issues were not fully in line with European practice and left one with the impression of reproof and pressure rather than promoting open dialogue. He also commented that the EU migrant policy was not forward-looking enough and that the thrust of the effort should be on the conflict regions fled by migrants.

ABV Floor Leader Borislav Borissov was concerned by what he saw as an implicit accusation in the letter that those who did not back the bill opposed the effective fight against corruption. If a solution for more fruitful work of the NCPO is found, ABV will support the bill.

MRF Floor Leader Lyutvi Mestan said it was the executive that generated corruption and the worst flaw of the bill was that the government is to appoint the head of the NCPO. If it is removed, the MRF will back the bill.

Patriotic Front Co-floor Leader Krassimir Karakachanov urged the ambassadors to treat Bulgaria as a full EU Member State, not as a naughty child who must be reprimanded. He added that the Patriotic Front does not share the view of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the allocation of migrants because it does not take into account their preferences and infringes on the Member States' sovereignty.

Ataka leader Volen Siderov said the foreign ambassadors violated Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which stipulates that they have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the receiving State. He also said that countries which are a symbol of corruption point a finger at Bulgaria and foster a sense of guilt in it.

MPs of GERB said that while the parliamentary forces do not differ on the philosophy and objectives of the bill, certain details should be sorted out if it is to be adopted with a political consensus. Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov stressed that it was Parliament that invited the ambassadors to the Foreign Policy Committee's meeting and that constructive dialogue means equal standing of the participants.

The Reformist Bloc MPs said they considered this format of the conversation normal.

At the end of the meeting, Ambassador Tom van Oorschot of the Netherlands commented that all parliamentary groups backed the idea of fighting corruption, and expressed a hope that Bulgaria would soon adopt adequate legislation.