Many were surprised to see one unanimous effort of the governing and oppositional forces over the past week. At an EP-held conference in Brussels MEPs from the ruling GERB party, alongside the oppositional socialists and Movement for Rights and Freedoms insisted on the reconsideration of the EC monitoring, regarding the system of justice and home affairs in Bulgaria. It is all against any common sense, as the negative assessments and criticism for high levels of corruption are ongoing and undisputed. The organizers appealed even for the dropping of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification as it had a negative international impact on Bulgaria, lacked the expected results and was even a sort of discrimination, not imposed on other states with similar problems. The Reformist Bloc voiced to the public its oppositional stance on the issue. The reformists say the drop demand only aims at the preservation of the status quo in the justice and interior sectors where no progress has been marked despite the EC criticism. The prosecutor general and other high ranked officials from the judicial system appealed for the mechanism’s dropping in Brussels. However, distinguished magistrates in Sofia voiced to media their disagreement, pointing out that the problem was not the EC monitoring, but lied within the national institutions monitored. This stance is common for the greater part of the society, as sociological polls show that 80% of the Bulgarian citizens trust the European monitoring and see it as a guarantee of forthcoming reforms in Bulgaria as well… After all, the EC didn’t step back and stated that the monitoring would be ceased only when its goals are reached. The whole story was pointless and disappointing at the same time, showing the clear lack of any will for reforms along with the strong will for the preservation of a status quo that has been stumbling the normal development of Bulgaria for years.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev