President Voices Concern over Possible EU Interim Report
President Rosen Plevneliev described as a very serious warning message the European Commission's announcement that it may come up with an interim report on Bulgaria in connection with the newly-elected Constitutional Court members.
Plevneliev expressed hope that the Bulgarian institutions will step up their effort to ensure transparency in the upcoming elections for heads of the different courts, the state-run Bulgarian News Agency reported on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the election of new Constitutional Court judges from parliament's quota prompted the Commission to say that parliament had failed to look into serious allegations against one of the candidates for trade in influence and corruption despite signals by the Commission sent over the past two days. The Commission's spokesperson Olivier Bailly also said that the Commission is concerned that the reputation of the Constitutional Court and other key Bulgarian institutions is at stake.