Impunity

The postponement and even forgiveness of fines and other penalties for illegal constructions on the country's coasts sends the wrong message - again. 

The facts are known. Some employees who are also trade unionists intervened to shut down the server at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens last February as an act of solidarity with students who occupied faculties, preventing students from completing online examinations. 

An opposition lawmaker on Monday called on Interior Minister Niki Kerameus to take steps that would satisfy a public petition for former transport ministers to be prosecuted for the deadly train crash at Tempe last year.

The Treaty of Lausanne encompasses the 143 articles of the treaty itself, along with 17 conventions, protocols and declarations negotiated between the defeated Turkey and all the victorious powers of World War I. It is not an agreement between Greece and Turkey.

The controversy that followed New Democracy MP Angelos Syrigos' claim that some articles of the Lausanne Treaty - notably the one on the extent of the military presence on the eastern Aegean islands - were out of date, has brought attention to the uncertainty surrounding the text of the 1923 agreement that established the borders of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

In a significant move by Slovenia's government, an amnesty initiative has been unveiled, ensuring refunds for fines imposed on thousands of individuals during the pandemic period. The decision comes after the prior administration's COVID policies were deemed unconstitutional, prompting the return of almost 6 million euros' worth of penalties.

Chronic impunity fosters and multiplies abuses of the law. There are many examples everywhere in the country.

Even when the law is enforced on paper, inaction in the execution of any decisions is interpreted as a blank check to continue with business as usual.

The US State Department's new 2022 annual human rights report says the Bulgarian government's efforts to address corruption and human rights abuses are "insufficient."

The report said steps had been taken to investigate officials accused of human rights abuses and corruption, but there was a problem of impunity.

The Presidential Communications Center (CİMER) has answered the most controversial question in Turkey about the Treaty of Lausanne, saying that "there is no classified article in the treaty."

Significant human rights problems and insufficient tackling of corruption. These are some of the conclusions of the annual report of the United States Department of State on human rights in Bulgaria for last year.