UK Ambassador: Bulgaria Must Investigate Personal Data Misuse

Britain's Ambassador to Bulgaria Jonathan Allen urged the authorities to fully investigate the misuse of personal data in the collection of election registration signatures.

"I am following the news closely regarding the misuse of personal data for registering parties in the elections list. I think this should be thoroughly investigated and brought under the weight of the Bulgarian laws", Ambassador Allen said in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television.

Earlier this week, a scandal erupted after many Bulgarians, including the Ombudsman Konstantin Penchev, found their signatures and uniform civil numbers (EGN) under European elections registration lists for parties.

H.E. Jonathan Allen also pointed out that it seems to be a tradition for the main losing party in any Bulgarian elections to accuse the winners of electoral fraud, in most cases without any concrete evidence.

"This brings a very negative image on Bulgaria. Imagine what a signal it sends when Bulgarian politicians speak out internationally that every election in the country is falsified", the Ambassador commented.

Regarding the nomination of controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski for MEP in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) list, Ambassador Allen refused to comment on any particular candidates, as this is an internal political decision. However, he expressed his belief that Bulgarians are wise and will choose the most appropriate figures to represent their country in Brussels.