EU Commission Report on Bulgaria 'Realistic', Prosecution Says

The Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office has said it accepts the conclusions and observations of the monitoring report on the country's judiciary and anti-corruption efforts as realistic and well-founded.

The statement, sent out to Bulgarian media outlets, comes after the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report, released on Wednesday, indicated that the European Commission sought to see more progress on behalf of Bulgaria to reform the judiciary and crack down on corruption and organized crime.

The document underscored the need to boost the prosecution's accountability and oversee the Chief Prosecutor's "interactions with other institutions."

Commenting on the measures needed on behalf of the prosecuting authority, it has reiterated its commitment to taking part in workgroups willing to change the criminal code.

It will also "participate in the preparation of a draft roadmap on the fulfillment of recommendations on the independent analysis of the [prosecution], in so far as they are directed at other institutions," according to the statement.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bulgaria says it is willing to present "on a periodical basis, in line with the competences of the Chief Prosecutor under Article 84, point 16, sentence 2 of the Constitution, summarized reports on the progress achieved on cases of corruption and organized crime."

There is no Sentence 2 in the respective point of the Constitution, which reads that Bulgaria's Parliament has the right to "hear and adopt the annual reports of the Supreme Court of Cassation, of the Supreme Administrative Court and of the Prosecutor General, as submitted by the Supreme Judicial Council, on the application of the law and on the operation of the courts, the prosecuting magistracy and the investigating authorities."

In the report, Bulgarian authorities are advised to boost the scrutiny on the Chief Prosecutor regarding high-profile cases.

No mention is made of the proposal to monitor his "interaction with other institutions".

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