Anelia Mingova, Chair of the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS), has argued that the newly published EC report on Bulgaria's five-year progress in the sphere of justice and home affairs contains exaggerated criticism.

"We are not denying the problems listed in the EC report but they are, in a sense, extreme," Mingova told journalists Wednesday.

The press conference was also attended by Boris Velchev, Chief Prosecutor, Lazar Gruev, Chair of the Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS), Georgi Kolev, Chair of the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS), and Ana Karaivanova, head of the VSS Inspectorate.

Mingova reminded that the current VSS panel had not enjoyed much comfort in its term of office.

She claimed that the VSS members had managed to hold attestations of over 1000 magistrates and had appointed 600 administrative heads of judicial bodies.

Mingova explained that the current VSS panel, whose term in office expires on October 3, could not do much about the EC report but could help to guarantee a transparent procedure for the appointment of the next VSS members from the magistrates' quota.

Meanwhile, VKS Chair Lazar Gruev defined the report as realistic, objective and collaborative.

"I have always insisted that this EC mechanism puts emphasis on cooperation, not only on evaluation. There can be no other valid interpretation of the report except for an interpretation which acknowledges that the EC sets one main goal for Bulgaria consisting of two parts – achieving irreversible results in terms of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary," the VKS Chair stated.

"The report is retrospective. It looks at what happened in the past five years and our stance should also be retrospective", Gruev emphasized.

"This report urges Bulgarian institutions five or six times to pool efforts. It would be a crude mistake to read the report as the Devil reads the Bible, using it for self-assertion or for inter-institutional attacks," he claimed.

The newly published EC report on Bulgaria's five-year progress under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) criticizes the inefficient policies of the Supreme Judicial Council, the inconsistent application of the principle of independence of the judiciary and the lack of momentum in the implementation of the judicial reform.

"There remains a lack of direction in policy which has held back progress. Many institutions

have taken useful steps. But the limited scale of these measures inside such institutions, and

the lack of a coordinated approach, suggests that questions remain about the direction of

reform," the EC highlights.

The EC concludes that it will not lift the CVM on Bulgaria and will publish its next progress report on the country at the end of 2013.