site.btaACF Report: Weak Anti-Corruption Enforcement Leaves Bulgaria's Democracy "Under Attack"

Weak enforcement against high-level corruption, combined with the alleged selective use of anti-corruption institutions for political purposes, has left Bulgaria's democracy "under attack" and further undermined the rule of law, according to the Anti-Corruption Fund's (ACF) annual monitoring report, which was put out Tuesday.  Titled "Anti-Corruption Institutions 2025: Democracy Under Attack", the report examines the work of the Prosecutor's Office, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which was abolished in January 2026, and the Commission for the Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Assets (CFIAA).

The publication is the eighth edition of ACF's annual independent civic monitoring of Bulgaria's efforts to prosecute high-level corruption.

According to the report, low institutional effectiveness, a lack of political will for reform, and the use of anti-corruption bodies as instruments against political and economic opponents were among the most concerning trends observed in 2025.

"The systemic crisis of the rule of law has transformed anti-corruption institutions from tools for combating corruption into instruments used to target opponents and conceal unlawful conduct," Andrey Yankulov, Bulgaria's caretaker justice minister between February and May 2026, writes in the report's foreword.

Politically motivated prosecutions

The report says that in 2025 prosecutors launched a series of criminal proceedings against mayors and municipal councillors from the opposition party Continue the Change, including Blagomir Kotsev, Yordan Kateliev, Nikola Stefanov and Nikola Barbutov.

The authors say that the cases display characteristics of politically motivated prosecutions aimed at reshaping the political landscape through criminal justice - a trend which began in 2024 but intensified in 2025. Prosecutions were based on allegations whose criminal nature is described as "legally debatable", accompanied by what the authors characterize as "severe coercive measures" against defendants.

At the same time, the report notes that no major investigations into allegations of high-level corruption involving representatives of the ruling political majority were launched during the year.

Few convictions for high-level corruption

The report tracked 71 high-level corruption cases and 39 cases involving local government. It says prosecutors continued to terminate an increasing number of investigations themselves, while lengthy criminal proceedings remained a persistent problem.

Of all monitored cases, only one had reached a final judicial conclusion by the time of the report's publication: the acquittal of former Road Infrastructure Agency chairman Lazar Lazarov.

The report also points to a predominance of final acquittals over convictions, recording 17 acquittals compared with four convictions. Including older proceedings monitored for the first time, the total number of convictions rises to seven, although some are still subject to appeal.

Concerns over performance of anti-corruption and asset forfeiture commissions

The report describes the abolition of the Anti-Corruption Commission in January 2026 as another technical change to Bulgaria's anti-corruption framework that did not alter the underlying institutional model. It also warns that the closure created risks for funding under the country's Recovery and Resilience Plan.

According to the report, the commission continued to show limited effectiveness in identifying conflicts of interest. Of 148 decisions examined on the merits in 2025, conflicts of interest were established in only 22 cases. The commission also carried out 45 incompatibility checks involving public officials but found no violations.

"The commission continues to examine conflict-of-interest proceedings in a formalistic manner," co-author Daniela Peneva said, arguing that investigations fail to assess whether the public interest has been compromised or whether hidden relationships and dependencies have influenced official decision-making.

The report also criticizes the performance of asset forfeiture commission. According to the findings, courts rejected, or the commission itself withdrew, claims worth BGN 248 million, representing 95% of the total value of claims concluded in 2025. Courts upheld claims worth BGN 14 million, while final enforceable judgments amounted to only BGN 6.5 million. The commission was also ordered to pay more than BGN 12 million in legal costs.

Call for greater accountability

ACF Director Boyko Stankushev said the report presents a picture of "democracy under attack", with institutions that remain ineffective in addressing high-level corruption while being selectively used for political purposes rather than safeguarding the rule of law.

He argued that active civic engagement, public pressure, demands for accountability and intolerance toward abuses of institutional power remain the strongest safeguards against these trends.

The report was authored by ACF legal expert Daniela Peneva and attorney Zlatka Stefanova. 

Its publication was supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Rule of Law Programme South East Europe and the America for Bulgaria Foundation's Enabling Business Environment Programme.