Bulgaria Police: EC Monitoring Report Positive, Fair

The heads of Bulgaria's police Tsvetanov (right) and Georgiev (left) are happy with the interim EC monitoring report. Photo by BGNES

The latest interim EC monitoring report on Bulgaria is the most positive ever for the country’s Interior Ministry, its Chief Secretary Georgiev believes.

Kalin Georgiev has welcomed the conclusions of the European Commission presented in its report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, issued Tuesday. The report recognizes certain progress with respect to the measures initiated by the government in the field of law enforcement and focuses its criticism on the poor results of the judicial system.

The Interior Ministry Secretary said that the new priority of his institution is tackling financial and economic crimes, partly because of the hard financial situation in the country, as cited by Pro.bg TV.

Speaking earlier, Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov declared that the EC Report provided a fair assessment of the situation in the country over the last 5-6 months.

“The measures we have taken have been recognized – such as the forming of specialized teams of policemen and prosecutors which led to the arrests of senior civil servants, and the amendments to the Penal Code and Penal Procedure Code. The EC Report recognizes a desire for change for the very first time,” Tsvetanov said while underscoring the failure of the judicial system to achieve specific results by completing certain trials.

Tsvetanov has been in conflict with the judiciary for the past month as he criticized the judges over rulings they made with respect to persons detained in special police operations. The judges in turn have reacted strongly saying the minister endangered their independence.