site.btaUPDATED PM Denkov: Bulgaria Makes Progress on Rule of Law, Much More to Be Done

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said here Wednesday that Bulgaria has been ranked with the biggest progress in a global rule of law score. He said that during a news briefing at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. "It is no surprise to the people who in recent months prepared the bills and debated with the parliamentary groups the changes in the laws related to the judicial system. The efforts that have been made in recent months have started to yield results. The first result was the lifting of the monitoring mechanism for Bulgaria. This is the second instance of international recognition. There has been a lot of positive support and assessment in recent days from the European Commission," Denkov said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the World Justice Project put out its 2023 Rule of Law Index where Bulgaria is mentioned as one of four outstanding improvers along with Honduras, Kenya and Slovenia. In that index, Bulgaria is ranked 59th among 142 countries. While it shows the most progress among the EU countries with 1.7% increase, Bulgaria still has the second-worst EU rating of 0.56 in 2023. Growth is seen in all areas except for regulatory enforcement. The index also measures constraints on government powers; absence of corruption; open government; fundamental rights; order and security; civil justice; and criminal justice.

In his comment, the Prime Minister pointed out that this success are not reassuring just yet, as Bulgaria still ranks 59th out of 142 countries, second to last in the European Union. There is still a lot to do, he added.

Denkov once again commented on the issue of Bulgaria's efforts to join Schengen after he returned on Tuesday evening from a one-day visit to Vienna and a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

"We managed to explain our arguments clearly in all meetings - in the Austrian parliament, in the meeting with Chancellor Nehammer, as well as with Austrian business. There were no objections to them. In fact, what the Chancellor said to the media in Austria was that he had no political claims with regard to Romania and Bulgaria. He has a problem with closed borders, where there are checks, between Austria and the neighbouring countries," Denkov said.

He pointed out that the talks on Schengen would continue at the upcoming European Council meeting in Brussels.