Bulgarian MEP Urges Serbia to Open Communist Era Files

Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev has urged Serbia to open its communist era files. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's rightist MEP Andrey Kovatchev has advised Serbia to open the file of its communist era security services in order to speed up its EU prospects.

Kovatchev, who is from Bulgaria's ruling party GERB and the European People's Party, spoke in the European Parliament during a debate on the signing of an EU Association Agreement with Serbia and the latter's ambitions to secure the status of an EU candidate country by the end of 2011.

"Our goal is to turn the existing borders from divisive into uniting lines. It should not matter on which side of the border our citizens live – whether in Nis, Kalotina, Tsaribrod, or Sofia, whether in Prishtina or Leskovac. The European integration is the only road to stability, security, and prosperity for the citizens of Serbia and for their neighbors," the Bulgarian MEP stated.

He pointed out that Eastern European EU member states can give valuable advise to Serbia so that it can avoid their mistakes on its road to the EU.

One such piece of advice, in his view, is the opening of the archives of the repressive apparatus of the former Yugoslavia as soon as possible.

"In Bulgaria we have a very bitter experience with the late opening of the archives. The former security services are connected to a great extent with corruption and organized crime in the region. The future of a democratic country must not be controlled by its totalitarian past. We in Eastern Europe are well-aware of the manipulations of the former communists who will use every opportunity to present their actions as a protection of the national interests. Do not get fooled by that – their own welfare is their only driving force," Kovatchev declared welcoming Serbia's efforts to restrict the influence of the former communist structures in its government.

He thinks that the opening of the communist Yugoslavia archives will be a clear sign that Serbia wants to break away from the regime that held it apart from Europe for many decades.

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