The European Commission, EC, has confirmed the upcoming meeting between EC President Jose Manuel Barroso and  Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski on June 21 in Brussels.

The confirmation was issued Monday afternoon after EC Spokesperson Olivier Bailly announced earlier the same day that the meeting was on Barroso's agenda but had not been confirmed.

The EC issued a statement saying that it expected the new head of Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security, DANS, to meet integrity and professionalism standards.

The appointment of notorious media tycoon Delyan Peevski as DANS Chair on Friday triggered an outburst of the public discontent, causing Bulgarians in a number of cities to take to the streets for three days in a row, calling for the resignation of the socialist-led government headed by Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski.

"The controversy surrounding the new head of DANS underscores the necessity of reforms, as well as policies and procedures which will give Bulgarian society confidence," the EC statement said.

The EC emphasized that the protests of the past few days showed the striving of Bulgarian citizens for the rule of law.

Olivier Bailly noted that competence was a key factor for selecting the person who would direct Bulgaria's efforts in such an essential sphere as security.

"The EC takes into account that the candidate presented last week declared his intention to withdraw. The EC assumes that the person who will eventually be appointed to the post of DANS Chair will meet professionalism and integrity standards. The EC is intent on collaborating with the Bulgarian authorities to achieve lasting reforms and EC President Jose Barroso will send this message to Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski," the EC spokesperson stated.

Asked whether the EC was considering an extraordinary report on Bulgaria under the co-operation and verification mechanism (CVM) over the recent events, he said that the plans for issuing the next report on Bulgaria in December remained in place.

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