Bulgaria Should Brace for ‘Not Quite Positive’ EC Progress Report – Caretaker Minister

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | October 29, 2014, Wednesday // 07:43
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Should Brace for ‘Not Quite Positive’ EC Progress Report – Caretaker Minister Bulgaria's caretaker Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov, photo by BGNES

Caretaker Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov has cautioned that Bulgaria needs to prepare for a “not quite positive” progress report of the European Commission under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism.

Speaking Tuesday after meetings in Brussels, he announced that the new EC panel planned to publish the upcoming CVM reports on Bulgaria and Romania on time, i.e. in the second half of January.

Ivanov noted, however, that the two reports outlined a major difference between the two countries which was not to Bulgaria’s benefit.

He told journalists that the issue of separating Bulgaria and Romania in the monitoring process had not been brought up during the talks at the Directorate-General for Justice of the EC and the Secretariat-General of the EC.

“The growing gap between Bulgaria and Romania was emphasized during the talks. This contrast is something that should worry us. It is also an additional factor which should mobilize us, especially on the political level,” he said, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio.

Ivanov made clear that it was essential for political parties to unite around a clear plan for reforms over the next few months.

“It is important to recognize the problems in the first place. Secondly, corruption is also an important matter. Not just individual corruption but systematic corruption” he declared.

Bulgaria’s caretaker Justice Minister, who was in Brussels to present the country’s judicial reform strategy at the EC, underscored that it was not possible to achieve significant progress in the work of courts or the prosecuting authority without comprehensive reforms in the police sector.

He suggested that the task of getting reform at the Interior Ministry on the agenda was a major challenge for Bulgaria’s next government.

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Tags: Hristo Ivanov, caretaker government, EC, CVM, cvm report, justice and home affairs, progress report, judicial reform, judicial reform strategy, interior ministry

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