EPP Group Chairman Joseph Daul has criticized the appointment of controversial Bulgarian businessman and lawmaker Delyan Peevski as the new head of the country’s State Agency for National Security.

"The EPP Group in the European Parliament is surprised by this morning's election of the new Director of the State Agency for National Security (DANS), Delyan Peevski, whose functions have been substantially expanded,” Daul said in a statement.

‘”The absence of democratic debate and the extreme rapidity of the procedure raise questions on the purpose of the designation process,” he added.

The EPP Group has invited the European Commission to follow closely the recent developments in Bulgaria and to ensure that European standards of the rule of law are respected.

Controversial businessman and media mogul Delyan Peevski is currently a lawmaker from the liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms party.

The Bulgarian Parliament voted Friday to approve the nomination of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, who proposed to have Peevski to lead DANS.

In a move stunning both MPs from the opposition center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, of former Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and parliamentary reporters, Oresharski proposed at the beginning of the sitting to have a new item on the agenda – election of new DANS Director.

The request caused outraged GERB MPs to leave plenary hall. Oresharski then proceeded to nominate Peevski. The controversial MP was then quickly elected as the new head of the agency.

More about Delyan Peevski can be read HERE.

The move stirred outrage in Bulgaria, with over 35 000 people joining a Facebook page calling for protests against the election.

Protest rallies are to take place across the country at 6:30 pm Friday.

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