Venice Commission: Bulgaria’s Decision on Prosecutor General Supervision Is “Strange”

The first-reading approval of the figure of a prosecutor entitled to investigate the Prosecutor General in Bulgaria has come as a surprise for the European Commission for Democracy through Law (aka Venice Commission).

The Venice Commission announced this at today's monitoring group meeting in the European Parliament, Radio Horizont learnt from its sources.

The Monitoring Group on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament discusses the situation in Bulgaria for the second time. The meeting is held online.

Today, the representative of the Venice Commission has stated that such a figure is not part of world practice and described the decision to create it as "strange".

He stressed that such surveillance is only permissible on a case-by-case level, as is the case in the United States. An invitation was sent to Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, but he refused to participate, member of the monitoring group, MEP from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Elena Yoncheva, said for Horizont:

"This is the second time when he has not showed up. It is deeply disappointing that a Bulgarian prime minister has once again hidden from the European Parliament. I would remind that he did not find time to appear in EP in August, did not find time to come today either."

According to Yoncheva, it is likely that the monitoring group will uphold the opinion that no concrete answers have been received from the Bulgarian authorities and therefore there will be more written questions sent further.