Bulgaria Development Gateway

16.02.2004 US Analyst Says Bulgaria Needs More Transparency

Bulgaria needs to make its politics more transparent, fight corruption and adopt an efficient public procurement law to ensure its 2007 accession to the European Union, a U.S. political analyst said.

“A number of very expert individuals in Bulgaria, outside the government have made very legitimate questions of whether or not that 2007 accession date could be actually achieved,” John Sitilides, Director of the Washington-based Western Policy Centre told the BNN.

“There are very important issues about full democratisation and transparency of the political decision making process in Bulgaria,” he added. “There are strong concerns about the level of corruption within both the Bulgarian government and the Bulgarian economy, especially given the infusion of illegal Russian funds and activities in the country and there are issues about the effectiveness of the contract law.”

Members of the European Commission (EC), the top EU executive body, have raised the issues of corruption and insufficient transparency in public procurement in talks with Bulgarian government delegation in Brussels Friday.

The EC has proposed to Bulgaria a financial aid package of EUR4.2 billion for the years 2007-2009 in a clear sign the country is advancing to an eventual membership in the bloc. At its latest summit in Brussels last Dec. the EU decided that Bulgaria and Romania may join it in 2007 if they match all membership requirements by then.

“The question is: is the political will in place to be able to overcome any challenges, address these issues and satisfy the European Union on the objective criteria,” Sitilides said referring to the reforms that the Bulgarian government has still to implement.

The efficiency of state administration and legal system is a long-standing issue in Bulgaria. Reforms in this area have just begun last year with a few constitutional amendments that made judiciary more accountable and easier to replace.

Bulgaria however needs to re-organise its entire law-enforcement system and adopt new Penal Code and Penal Procedure Code.

Public procurement has emerged as a new issue with EU concerns that the aid it is extending to Bulgaria will be properly used.

Sitilides warned also that Bulgaria would have to clear the scene from the criminal aftermath of the collapse of Communism in 1989.

“There is Russian Mafia as well as other Mafia operating not only in Bulgaria, but throughout the Balkans,” he said. “The fact that Bulgaria is situated next to the Black Sea makes it an ideal country for smugglers, who try to import illegal goods from Russia and from Central and Southwest Asia onto European destination points.”

“The other problem that Bulgaria faces is to its west with Kosovo, which serves as a well of corruption, of criminal enterprises and of very dangerous activities that threaten the political stability in a number of Balkan countries,” he added.

Sitilides urged the Bulgarian government to be more sincere with its people about the difficulties they will in the years immediately preceding the EU membership.

“I don’t have the sense right now that the Bulgarian leadership has fully prepared every day average Bulgarians for the kind of issues that are coming up in the next years,” he said. “What I can predict very confidently is that there will be increased scepticism amongst Bulgarians as some of the harsh realities of EU compliance are made fully public.”

Source: BNN

Contributed by: Любомир Харизанов

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