PM: Bulgaria beats Romania on EU funds, anti-corruption

Bulgaria has surpassed Romania for EU funds absorption and fighting corruption, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on June 8. His statement came as Romania’s Prime Minister was recently indicted for corruption and several current and former Romanian officials have been arrested in corruption-related cases. Borisov said that the Bulgarian prosecutors were “absolutely independent” and made an example of the trial against former minister of the interior Ţvetan Ţvetanov, reports local Mediafax. However, he said that no unmotivated trials against former prime ministers Plamen Oreşarski and Serghei Stanişev were needed just to prove that justice in Bulgaria was independent. He added that such trials would be wild goose chases. Bulgaria’s chief-prosecutor is independent and has no reason to arrest high officials just to prove this, according to Borisov. In Romania, former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase has served two prison sentences for corruption and several former ministers have also been convicted for corruption. Romania’s progress in fighting corruption has been acknowledged by the European Commission’s reports, the same reports noting that Romania has been lagging behind on this chapter. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: government.bg)