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bne October 2020 Southeast Europe I 45
For the 64th day running hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians protested on September 10.
EU under pressure to intervene as Bulgarian protests enter third month
“People on the streets of Sofia today want to know are you going to argue
for that to be imposed. That the
CVM [Cooperation and Verification Mechanism] will be strictly monitored. They also want to know are we going
to stop funding these thugs, because European money is emboldening and enabling these people to engage in all- scale corruption which is penalising the Bulgarian citizens. I have to say I think this is absolute disgrace,” Daly also said. Her statement was widely applauded by Bulgarians who have become angry with the complete failure of the European Commission to intervene since the start of the protests.
Meanwhile, Jourova said that the EC will prepare the first report on Bulgaria under the rule of law mechanism on September 23. Jourova also urged
the authorities in Sofia to seek advice from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission on legislative revisions regarding the accountability of
the prosecutor general, including safeguarding judicial independence
in line with the Venice Commission's recommendations.
“Are you blind, EU?” has become
a popular poster during the protests and several times protesters have stopped by the delegation of the EU to demand a reaction from European institutions.
At the same time, the authorities in Sofia are accusing protesters of being criminals or paid by criminals. On September 9, Borissov said that the mafia is demanding his resignation, therefore he will not resign. His statement provoked outrage and people started posting photos of young people with their children among protesters, ironically calling them “the mafia”.
On the 64th day of protests, announced as the “second supreme national uprising” by its organisers, the Poisonous Trio, tens of thousands people yelled that the authorities have got wrong the address of the mafia, referring to Borissov’s statement.
Denitsa Koseva in Sofia
Bulgaria enters the third month of protests demanding the resignations of government and chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev.
For the 64th day running hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians protested on September 10, disgusted by the evidence of top-level corruption and the alleged involvement of the government and Geshev with controversial politicians and businessmen.
“If the [European] Commission thinks the progress in Bulgaria has been good over the 13 years – well, my conclusion can only be that you’re either grossly incompetent or that you are completely subservient to the interests of Borissov because of his connections with certain influential groupings in this parliament,” Daly said, addressing the European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova.
Jourova talked to a session of the Euro-
pean Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on September 10, pointing out that Bulgaria has made some progress in the past years but that the protests show the importance of good leadership to the people in Bulgaria.
Daly accused Borissov of turning Bulgaria into the most corrupt EU member state as well as the poorest.
“We have irrefutable evidence of his [Borissov’s] connection and interaction with the prosecutor Geshev, giving orders about who should be prosecuted, covering up for his own allegations of money laundering in Spain and so on, harassment of judges. Now the people are off their knees, we have mass arrests, people being beaten, pepper sprayed, a riot police without proper identification, reputable members of the society being imprisoned, on hunger strike and we talk about monitoring and progress,” Daly said.
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