Tag: European Union

Why Do EU Politicians Avoid Discussing Bulgaria’s Rampant Corruption and Lack of Rule of Law? Dissecting the Silence!

.Reading time 12 minutes.

As a scholar with a research interest in the rule of law and as a Bulgarian citizen, I have been asking this question for a long time. For the sake of giving credit where credit is due, it is worth mentioning that the European Greens tried to raise concern about Bulgaria’s rampant corruption at the start of Bulgaria’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in January 2018 by publishing a critical report and by directly confronting Bulgaria’s Prime Minister on the matter at the European Parliament. However, they have progressively quieted down.

To be fair, the Greens are not in a position to do much either. Yet, what about the EPP, the Progressives or ALDE which is known for its motto “Values First”? These are the three largest groups at the European Parliament and all of them have members from Bulgaria.

At the end of August 2018, I carried out an improvised Twitter survey to see if my followers shared my worries (Figure 1). 36 people voted and 2 users who missed the deadline to cast their vote sent me separate comments, as we will see below.

So let’s see what the survey found?

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All You Need to Know about Bulgaria’s Rule of Law in 10 Charts

.Reading time 19 minutes.

On 23 August 2017, I launched radosvetavassileva.blog to shed light on the lack of rule of law, the systemic and deliberate human rights abuses, and the rampant corruption in Bulgaria (most corrupt EU member according to Transparency International!). For one year, my approach towards analyzing these pressing issues has been predominantly legal: I have commented current events from the perspective of the legal framework, including Bulgaria’s international obligations, I have explained inconsistencies in case law, and I have raised concern about dangerous law reforms aimed at transforming Bulgaria into an autocratic State.

If you live in a democracy, however, it is surely difficult to imagine the full range of consequences and long-term effects of abuses in countries like Bulgaria. In turn, if you live in Bulgaria, maybe it is hard to visualize how the abuses other people experience affect YOU personally.

This time I will demonstrate what the lack of rule of law and corruption ‘look like’ with 10 simple graphs/tables. I will start with the more visible and direct consequences and move towards the more indirect effects, which are equally disturbing.

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Видео пост: #eu2018bg Малко реализъм относно европредседателството

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

В началото на декември 2017 г., малко преди българското правителство да обяви официално приоритетите си за европредседателството, публикувах блог поста си “Българското председателство на Съвета на ЕС – хубави ли са новите дрехи на царя?”. В него обясних защо е обезпокоително, че държава, която тенденциозно нарушава европейското право и не може да се справи с войнстващата корупция, ще определя дневния ред на Съвета, както и защо няма капацитет да бъде лидер в нито една от сферите, които е обявила за приоритетни.

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The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU: The Emperor Has No Clothes

.Reading time 13 minutes.

As you may or may not know, every six months one of the Member States of the European Union assumes the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (also known as Council of Ministers). In practice, this means that the current government of the presiding Member State determines the agenda of the aforementioned Council, sets a work program aimed at enhancing the policies of the European Union, and chairs the planned meetings.

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My First Vlog Post: “The Rise of Modern Dictatorships and EU’s Dual Standards”

.Reading time 3 minutes.

When I launched radosvetavassileva.blog two months ago, I ended my first blog post with the following words: “The whole world will learn about the crimes Bulgaria’s mafia has committed and the whole world will be watching its imminent demise! The lights are on!”. I am very happy to share that my blog has already more than 14 000 viewers. I really want to thank my readers for their interest in my point of view. I also want to thank everyone who signed my petition in support of my father’s application under the US Magnitsky Act. Many thanks to those who follow my family on Twitter too! If you have not done so, you can find us @Radosveta_vass, @AnVassileva, @TzvetVassilev.

As one famous quote, which is often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, goes: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” No matter how hard some people try to suffocate the truth, it will come out. Read More

On How Bulgaria’s Corrupt Authorities Abuse Interpol’s Red Notice for Violent Political Vendettas

.Reading time 26 minutes.

Hello! My name is Radosveta Vassileva and I am a legal scholar based in the UK. I happen to be a Bulgarian national. Recently, in August 2017, I visited my parents in Serbia for my father’s birthday. My parents are refugees there—they have been politically persecuted by Bulgaria as my father exposed corruption at the highest levels of government. When I went to register with the Serbian police as any foreigner who intends to stay in Serbia for more than one day is obliged to have a registration, the officer told me politely that they had to arrest me because Bulgaria had put me on Interpol’s Red Notice list. Needless to say, I was stunned and horrified. How did a young legal scholar and doctor of law end up on this “special” list, but most of all—how is it possible for a European Union Member State to abuse European legal instruments and Interpol’s Red Notice list to target political and economic opponents? If you are curious, keep reading! This is a story of violent abuse of law and human rights by corrupt Bulgarian officials. This is a frightening tale of how Bulgaria’s corrupt authorities can put you on Interpol’s Red Notice list even before they bring nonsensical charges against you and before they summon you in violation of both Bulgarian and European law! Yes, they are that arrogant, ruthless, and vengeful. Read More