Council of Europe: The Fight against Corruption at the Highest Levels in Bulgaria is Ineffective

Inefficient justice, loopholes in the rules for people at the top of power and dependent media are distinctive features of the situation with the fight against corruption at the top of power in Bulgaria. Such conclusions were reached by the Group of States fighting corruption "GRECO" of the Council of Europe.

The report, published on Thursday, assesses Bulgaria's anti-corruption legal framework for the first time since 2014.

The Group of States Fighting Corruption of the Council of Europe is an anti-corruption monitoring organization that monitors the compliance of legislation in its member states with the anti-corruption instruments of the Council of Europe. Bulgaria has been part of it since 1991 and has been evaluated four times so far - in 2001, 2004, 2009 and 2014.

GRECO found numerous loopholes in the state's anti-corruption system that make it ineffective.

The following are indicated as such:

• executive impunity,
• absence of lobbying law,
• the way in which the property declarations of senior officials are checked,
• lack of rules of conduct and assessment of the risk of corruption,
• opacity for political cabinets and advisers.

It is pointed out that the absence of convictions for corruption at its highest level remains a weakness of the justice system, with the report stating that "the lack of an effective criminal justice response against high-level corruption consistently stands out among the main shortcomings of the Bulgarian anti-corruption system".

It also recommended strengthening the operational independence of the police "to prevent undue political influence on their actions", as well as introducing "comprehensive legislation to ensure...