The Brief – Bulgaria tops global rule of law progress? Must be a joke

Can global rule of law reports, even those from prestigious organisations, be trusted? Today, my clear answer is no, after seeing the news that my native Bulgaria tops the Rule of Law Index 2023 in terms of progress made, published by the US-based World Justice Project.

According to the report, 14 of the EU’s 27 member states regressed between 2022 and 2023. But among those that made progress, Bulgaria ranked number one on the global scale (+1.7%), while another EU member, Slovenia, came in fourth (+1.6%).

I am not going to comment on Slovenia, but of all countries being singled out as the most reformist in the world, Bulgaria as the champion sounds bizarre, to say the least. Of course, since it joined the EU in 2007, Bulgaria has made progress in the rule of law, but any improvement in the 2022-2023 period is questionable, and that’s putting it mildly.

I asked two well-known Bulgarian journalists to share their thoughts.

Doroteya Dachkova, probably the most experienced reporter on judiciary matters, who works for the reputable website Sega, said the US-made analysis is “out of touch with reality” although some in Sofia may like its findings.

She said the new Euro-Atlantic government of Bulgaria indeed attempted a constitutional reform. However, she added, the project it proposed was met with criticism from various experts and it remains to be seen what the final texts will be.

“The change in the anti-corruption law does not make me particularly optimistic either,” she said, explaining that the revision of the law did not remove the suspicion that its members would still be party officials who would turn the anti-graft commission into an instrument against political opponents – or anyone who could bring trouble to those in power.

“Yes, there is supposedly someone to investigate the untouchable general prosecutor, but that person doesn’t even have an office or a computer,” she added.

“The shadow of Delyan Peevski hangs over everything,” Dachkova said, referring to the controversial politician and media tycoon from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), who has been sanctioned for corruption under the US Magnitsky Act.

Peevski is now the deputy chairman of the DPS parliamentary group and the main spokesman for the judiciary reform.

Emiliya Milcheva, a freelancer columnist who regularly contributes opinion pieces to Euractiv.bg, called Bulgaria’s progress on the rule of law “nominal” at best.

She said many in Bulgaria see it as an outrage that laws that have been demanded for years are being passed with the participation of persons against whom the country saw the biggest popular protests in the last decade.

The 2020-2021 protests were directed against three people.

The first is the then prime minister Boyko Borissov, whose conservative GERB party now is part of a bizarre ruling coalition and the biggest force in parliament.

The second is Peevski, and the third is the then-prosecutor general Ivan Geshev, who turned against Borissov and was swiftly replaced by his deputy, who remained faithful to Borissov.

“The greatest challenge to the success of the reform remains the human factor – the magistrates who will renew the Supreme Judicial Council, the Inspectorate, who will fill the Constitutional Court,” Milcheva explained.

“The system has been shaped from behind the scenes for so many years that to bring forward people with integrity will be really difficult.”

We do not know how the World Justice Project made its report. If they used artificial intelligence, then let’s blame it on AI. If they didn’t, maybe they should have. Maybe AI would have done a better job.

The European Commission has adopted a set of actions to address critical medicine shortages, including a common approach to drug stockpiling and an EU-wide shortage alert system,  in order to avoid last year’s scenario.

German MEP Terry Reintke, co-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, kickstarted the European Greens lead candidate race by presenting her candidacy on Tuesday, as reported by Euractiv in September, with more candidates expected by the end of November.

Last but not least, don’t miss this week’s Green Brief and the Health Brief.

Look out for…

• European Council summit on Thursday-Friday.
• Commission Vice-President Vĕra Jourová speaks at Global Gateway Forum’s session on Digital Infrastructure on Thursday.
• Jourová speaks at Fighting Misinformation Online conference on Thursday.