exPM Complains of Political Repression in Bulgaria to EC VicePresident

Boyko Borisov, leader of center-right party GERB and former Bulgarian Prime Minister, has complained of rampant political repression to EC Vice-President Viviane Reding.

Speaking during a congress of the European People's Party (EPP) in Dublin, Borisov drew attention to alleged preparations for impeachment proceedings against Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and a set of politically convenient legal amendments to the National Audit Office Act.

"The country is in the grips of pervasive political repression. Nobody and nothing can stop the ruling parties, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and Ataka, as well as their "political crutches." Anyone who dares to have a stance and defend it in front of Bulgarian society is subject to vigilante justice in the spheres of media and politics," the leader of former ruling party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) told Reding, according to reports of the party's press office.

Borisov argued that Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev had become the subject of a political attack by "new, suspicious political subjects" following political orders of BSP, DPS, and Ataka.

He also insisted that a set of changes to the National Audit Office Act aimed to politicize the authority and bring it under the control of the ruling socialist-led coalition.

"With these legal amendments BSP, DPS and Ataka are taking revenge against the independent National Audit Office because its current panel refuses to carry out political orders of the ruling parties," Borisov insisted.