Post by Sapphire Capital on Jul 18, 2008 5:55:57 GMT 4
17 Jul 2008 -
Clive Leviev-Sawyer
Opposition parties walked out a special meeting of Bulgaria’s consultative council on national security on July 17 2008 after failing in attempts to put a national controversy about EU funds and alleged links of top state officials to organised crime high on the agenda.
The opposition MPs said that they would discuss initiating procedures to impeach President Georgi Purvanov, and that during the meeting, Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov had, to his face, called on Purvanov to resign.
Purvanov announced on July 14 that he was calling the special meeting to discuss urgent issues about the country’s munitions dumps after the July 3 explosions at the Chelopechene weapons store outside Sofia.
Members of the consultative council of national security include the Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, ministers of defence, interior, foreign affairs and finance, the head of the State Agency for National Security, the chief of the armed forces and the heads of parliamentary groups in the National Assembly. The latter is the reason that opposition leaders had the opportunity to confront Purvanov.
Between the day the meeting was announced, and July 17, a report by the European Commission’s anti-fraud office Olaf was leaked, including allegations of a powerful criminal network involved in sundry crimes including abuse of EU funds. Among the allegations, denied by Purvanov and other senior state figures, was that an individual involved in the criminal network had donated to Purvanov’s presidential election campaign.
The Olaf report leak happened just more than a week before an EC report on Bulgaria’s progress – or lack of it – against organised crime and corruption is due to appear.
Purvanov, along with Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, denied on July 16 that anyone in Bulgaria was being sheltered under a “political umbrella” from prosecution for crimes.
On July 17, Bulgarian National Television correspondent (BNT) in Brussels Assen Indjiev reported that an EC report, a copy of which was in the possession of BNT, recommended that the EC suspend the rights of two Bulgarian Government agencies to operate under the Phare European funds programme.
One of the affected bodies is the Phare executive agency at Assen Gagaouzov’s Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, and the other is the Central finance and contracts unit at Plamen Oresharski’s Ministry of Finance.
BNT reported that the total amount involved was more than 600 million euro.
“The report by the European Commission says further that there is no will to deal with financial fraud in Bulgaria and that the lack of results in the fight against corruption and organised crime causes serious concern,” BNT said.
BNT reporter Indjiev said that the EC report examined the absorption of EU funds in Bulgaria, beginning with the statement that Bulgaria administrative capacity was weak and that there are serious doubts about fraud and conflict of interest when awarding contracts.
The most serious was the situation of the Phare programme. The report said that the EC it should withdraw the decision entitling the two agencies to be involved in financial contracts.
The report, according to BNT, said that salaries in the administration were low, making public servants susceptible to corruption, there was a lack of will to quickly deal with financial fraud, and a lack of results in the fight against corruption in high-level and organised crime, cause concern.
The opposition MPs who walked out of the meeting said that they had asked that the controversy around the EU funds and the Olaf report be put as first item on the agenda.
This was refused, although Purvanov proposed that this be added as the final item, number four, the category “miscellaneous”. This was rejected, and the opposition group quit the meeting just 30 minutes after it began.
One of those who walked out, the Bulgarian National Union’s Stefan Sofiyanski, said that the national consultative council on national security should have dealt with the munitions dumps issue months ago, and the EU-Olaf issue was much more important because suspension and withdrawal of EU funds represented a far greater threat to Bulgaria’s national security.
Kostov told journalists outside the Presidency building that he had asked Purvanov to give an explanation about the allegations about his connections to the “criminal network”. Purvanov declined to answer, Kostov said.
“I asked for the President’s resignation face to face,” Kostov said, adding that this was a stance shared by all opposition parties.
The group said that they would meet in Parliament to discuss whether to table a motion calling for the impeachment of the President.
According to the Bulgarian constitution, an impeachment shall require a motion from no fewer than one quarter of all members of the National Assembly and will be passed if supported by more than two-thirds of the members.
An impeachment against the President or Vice-President shall be tried by the Constitutional Court within a month following the lodging of the impeachment.
Should the Constitutional Court convict the President or Vice-President of high treason, or of a violation of the constitution, the President's or Vice-President's prerogatives shall be suspended, according to the constitution.
Clive Leviev-Sawyer
Opposition parties walked out a special meeting of Bulgaria’s consultative council on national security on July 17 2008 after failing in attempts to put a national controversy about EU funds and alleged links of top state officials to organised crime high on the agenda.
The opposition MPs said that they would discuss initiating procedures to impeach President Georgi Purvanov, and that during the meeting, Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov had, to his face, called on Purvanov to resign.
Purvanov announced on July 14 that he was calling the special meeting to discuss urgent issues about the country’s munitions dumps after the July 3 explosions at the Chelopechene weapons store outside Sofia.
Members of the consultative council of national security include the Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, ministers of defence, interior, foreign affairs and finance, the head of the State Agency for National Security, the chief of the armed forces and the heads of parliamentary groups in the National Assembly. The latter is the reason that opposition leaders had the opportunity to confront Purvanov.
Between the day the meeting was announced, and July 17, a report by the European Commission’s anti-fraud office Olaf was leaked, including allegations of a powerful criminal network involved in sundry crimes including abuse of EU funds. Among the allegations, denied by Purvanov and other senior state figures, was that an individual involved in the criminal network had donated to Purvanov’s presidential election campaign.
The Olaf report leak happened just more than a week before an EC report on Bulgaria’s progress – or lack of it – against organised crime and corruption is due to appear.
Purvanov, along with Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, denied on July 16 that anyone in Bulgaria was being sheltered under a “political umbrella” from prosecution for crimes.
On July 17, Bulgarian National Television correspondent (BNT) in Brussels Assen Indjiev reported that an EC report, a copy of which was in the possession of BNT, recommended that the EC suspend the rights of two Bulgarian Government agencies to operate under the Phare European funds programme.
One of the affected bodies is the Phare executive agency at Assen Gagaouzov’s Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, and the other is the Central finance and contracts unit at Plamen Oresharski’s Ministry of Finance.
BNT reported that the total amount involved was more than 600 million euro.
“The report by the European Commission says further that there is no will to deal with financial fraud in Bulgaria and that the lack of results in the fight against corruption and organised crime causes serious concern,” BNT said.
BNT reporter Indjiev said that the EC report examined the absorption of EU funds in Bulgaria, beginning with the statement that Bulgaria administrative capacity was weak and that there are serious doubts about fraud and conflict of interest when awarding contracts.
The most serious was the situation of the Phare programme. The report said that the EC it should withdraw the decision entitling the two agencies to be involved in financial contracts.
The report, according to BNT, said that salaries in the administration were low, making public servants susceptible to corruption, there was a lack of will to quickly deal with financial fraud, and a lack of results in the fight against corruption in high-level and organised crime, cause concern.
The opposition MPs who walked out of the meeting said that they had asked that the controversy around the EU funds and the Olaf report be put as first item on the agenda.
This was refused, although Purvanov proposed that this be added as the final item, number four, the category “miscellaneous”. This was rejected, and the opposition group quit the meeting just 30 minutes after it began.
One of those who walked out, the Bulgarian National Union’s Stefan Sofiyanski, said that the national consultative council on national security should have dealt with the munitions dumps issue months ago, and the EU-Olaf issue was much more important because suspension and withdrawal of EU funds represented a far greater threat to Bulgaria’s national security.
Kostov told journalists outside the Presidency building that he had asked Purvanov to give an explanation about the allegations about his connections to the “criminal network”. Purvanov declined to answer, Kostov said.
“I asked for the President’s resignation face to face,” Kostov said, adding that this was a stance shared by all opposition parties.
The group said that they would meet in Parliament to discuss whether to table a motion calling for the impeachment of the President.
According to the Bulgarian constitution, an impeachment shall require a motion from no fewer than one quarter of all members of the National Assembly and will be passed if supported by more than two-thirds of the members.
An impeachment against the President or Vice-President shall be tried by the Constitutional Court within a month following the lodging of the impeachment.
Should the Constitutional Court convict the President or Vice-President of high treason, or of a violation of the constitution, the President's or Vice-President's prerogatives shall be suspended, according to the constitution.