site.btaJustice Minister Georgiev Reviews First 100 Days, Cites Technocratic Progress and Euro-Area Push

Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev described the government’s first 100 days as technocratic, essentially focused on citizens’ issues, in a media interview on Sunday.

"We made considerable effort to clear the main obstacles to joining the euro area and to securing funds owed to citizens from Europe," Georgiev said. "After three and a half years of chaos and disputes among politicians, if action is delayed this year, projects will not be reported to Europe and citizens will have to pay the costs themselves," he added.

Georgiev stated that significant progress has been made—10 bills have been submitted in 100 days, which means that every 10 days, long-awaited legal acts have been introduced. He said that most of these bills are intended to unlock BGN 10 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

He added that by the end of May, work on the entire package is expected to be completed, which would enable the release of the second payment for Bulgaria, emphasizing that progress continues.

Georgiev noted that at the same time steps are being taken to maintain the quality of the draft legislation, despite the rapid pace of work.

“The justice system does not need professional complainers, but concrete legislative solutions and people who are open to reform,” the minister said.

He noted Bulgaria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) list of Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring (also known as the FATF grey list) and its progress toward joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are important steps, stating that Bulgaria belongs among developed countries.

The minister also addressed the issue of road fatalities. Relatives of crash victims said, “Slow justice for us is like a second death,” Georgiev pointed out. He outlined various legislative initiatives, such as a draft law aiming to use traffic cameras for road monitoring and expressed hope that these measures will find support in Parliament.

“For punishment to be effective, it must be inevitable,” Georgiev said, and added that increasing fines alone is not a solution. He added, “We are working on better laws that reflect the realities of road safety today.”

On the so-called property mafia, the justice minister stated that it is stronger than he initially believed but added: “The main point is that it is not stronger than the State. We monitor every new scheme so that we can address it through legislative changes,” Georgiev said.

He stressed that the prosecution service and the court must complete what the State has begun.