Bulgaria to appoint EU experts to improve anti-corruption fight

Sofia. The Bulgarian government and its board of international councellors, headed by former French premier Dominique de Villepin, said Wednesday they would call on EU experts to help the country fight corruption more effectively.

“The proposal to reinforce cooperation with both the European Commission and with the member states by benefiting from a certain number of experts creates a roadmap (for making progress),” Villepin told journalists in Sofia following a board meeting with Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said this week he was planning to ask the European Commission to appoint EU experts to top positions in the Bulgarian administration.

The move was aimed at improving work on the ground, especially in the management of European Union funds and cooperation with the European Commission, Stanishev said.

Reports in the Bulgarian press however suggested that Stanishev was hoping to convince the European Commission to lift a special monitoring mechanism it imposed on the country’s internal and justice affairs when it joined the EU in 2007.