National Radio: Bulgaria Anticipates Best EC Report Ever

The building of the EC in Brussels where the “coveted” positive report on Bulgaria is being prepared. File photo

The European Commission will note the continuing political will of the year-old Bulgarian cabinet in the fight against corruption and organized crime, according to the Brussels correspondent of the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR.

The report will, however, point out the still unfulfilled expectations from the judicial system.

The main message of the report is the sense of progress at good speed, and better collaboration among institutions, especially when the Interior Ministry is concerned, BNR informs, citing an unnamed source from the European Commission. The praise will further include the improvements in the Penal Code and the recently approved strategy for the judicial reform.

The countless police operations with exotic names would not be listed one by one, but the need to improve professional practices of the courts, the prosecutors offices, and the police will receive special attention with recommendations for the judicial system to show more initiative and responsibility and for better team work among the Interior Ministry, the National Agency for State Security (DANS) and the Prosecutor's Office.

The more upbeat report, however, would not eliminate the monitoring mechanism imposed on Bulgaria, nevertheless this is the most positive assessment since Bulgaria became a member of the EU, and for the first time also better than the one for neighboring Romania, the source is cited saying.

In the beginning of July, however, the European Commission spokesperson Mark Gray expressed his amusement at rumors circulating around the not-yet-published progress report on Bulgaria under the EU Co-operation and Verification Mechanism.

Gray commented then on what he called a “disappointing” phenomenon in Bulgaria – the fact that people in the country are worrying about the date of the next report, about whether it will be positive or negative, about whether it will be better than that for Romania, disregarding substantive questions about the quality of reforms themselves.