site.btaNational Assembly Rejects Formation of Ad Hoc Committee of Inquiry into Sabotage of European Prosecutor’s Investigations

Bulgaria's National Assembly on Thursday voted, 98-92 with 40 abstentions, to reject a motion for the formation of an ad hoc committee to establish facts and circumstances regarding systematic cases of sabotage, delays, and resistance by Bulgarian government institutions against investigations conducted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) represented by European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva.

The motion to set up the committee was tabled by the Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) Parliamentary Group and was supported by 36 MPs of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, 34 of Vazrazhdane, 18 of MRF-Democracy, Rights and Freedoms, and 10 of MECh. Those against were 61 MPs of GERB-UDF, 30 of MRF-New Beginning, and one of BSP – United Left. All MPs of There Is Such a People, five of GERB-UDF, and 18 of BSP – United Left abstained.

The ad hoc committee was supposed to establish all facts and circumstances since June 1, 2021, related to the activities of government institutions in Bulgaria regarding the cases raised by European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva, including: actions and inactions by the Interior Ministry in specific EPPO investigations, cases of delays in procedural investigative actions, reasons for the refusal or delay in providing information from state bodies and financial institutions; investigations related to public procurement financed with EU funds for the delivery of electric buses and trolleybuses in the cities of Vratsa, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, and Sofia; an investigation into the case of the gas storage facility in Chiren and suspicions surrounding contracts worth BGN 600 million, as well as determining whether there is a connection between the Interior Ministry's resistance to checking certain companies and the presence of contracts worth over BGN 10 million between the same companies and the Interior Ministry.

Under the motion, the ad hoc committee would have been active for a period of two months.