Bulgaria Rolls Out Anti-Corruption Law Before Taking Over EU Presidency

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 Bulgaria's parliament on Wednesday (20 December) passed a law aimed at improving its fight against high-level corruption, a move long sought by the EU just days before the country takes over the bloc's rotating presidency, EurActiv reported.

Since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, Brussels has been pushing its leaders to overhaul the judiciary and root out graft, especially among officials who have often escaped justice.

After wrangling over the proposals for two years, lawmakers approved setting up a single body to fight corruption, bringing together several agencies, a system widely seen as inefficient.

But President Rumen Radev has already vowed to veto the law, saying last week that "its instruments are inefficient while they can be used as bats for punishing the clumsy".

If he does, lawmakers would have to review the bill once again, if not change it outright.

 

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