The Head of State meets with representatives of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament

The struggle to strengthen the rule of law requires systematic and consistent efforts from all institutions and these efforts should not be held hostage to political conjuncture. This is what President Rumen Radev said at a meeting in Sofia with representatives of the monitoring group of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament (LIBE), whose delegation is on a working visit to Bulgaria. Vice President Iliana Iotova also took part in the meeting.

The state of the rule of law against the backdrop of the recommendations of the latest European Commission report, the results of the fight against corruption and the media environment in Bulgaria were among the topics of the meeting.

The Head of State pointed out that despite the international and domestic political crises over the past two years, the caretaker governments managed to draft a number of bills aimed at the modernisation of the country and its European integration. These include the introduction of a mechanism for effective investigation and control over the activities of the prosecutor general, as well as active work on anti-corruption legislation. Many of these laws have already been adopted and this is the main reason why the European Commission has formally suspended the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria.

The sides agreed that specific results are needed in the fight against high-level corruption and investigations that lead to convictions.

Responding to a question from the members of the European Parliament about media freedom in Bulgaria, Vice President Iliana Iotova stressed the need to clarify the way of funding and to develop clear mechanisms to prevent attempts to abuse funds and to put the media in conditions of dependence.