site.btaIn Declaration in Parliament, Velichie Warns that Bulgaria Is Headed to "Institutionalized Repressions", "Creeping Dictatorship"

The opposition Velichie party warns that Bulgaria is headed to what it calls "institutionalized repressions" and "creeping dictatorship". "Bulgaria is heading down the dangerous path of institutionalized repression, disguised under the slogan of rule of law," said Krasimira Katincharova, Velichie Deputy Floor Leader, as she readout a declaration in the plenary hall Wednesday.

"The case of the arrest of the Mayor of Varna goes beyond the scope of a single criminal case; it has become a symbol of creeping dictatorship that uses justice as a club," she commented.

Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev was arrested late in the night on July 8 after a corruption tipoff by a failed public procurement tenderer to the Counter-Corruption Commission. The way his care is handled by the prosecution service and the court has triggered an outcry with protests taking place in Sofia and other large cities in the country. 

Katincharova went on to catalogue cases where the authorities are turning a blind eye to unlawful seizure of public land by private individuals. "But let us see what is not happening while the state conducts high-profile operations against opposition mayors who are inconvenient for the current political moment. Just a few kilometers from Varna, 9.2 ha of state-owned coastal land near [the river] Kamchia have been transferred into private hands without any legal basis - land that has never been removed from the state forest fund. There have been no arrests, no charges pressed, not even a minimal investigation, and no media coverage of the case, while the Minister of Agriculture has no idea how this ownership transformation occurred. Another 0.7 ha of prime land on the Varna Riviera were appropriated using fake title deeds. The forgeries were only noticed and acknowledged after the property was already developed, and again, there was zero reaction from the authorities".

"Where there is no will to investigate, powerful economic and political figures are involved - people long known as vote-brokers and allies of those in power, satellites and partners of the former GERB mayor, infamously known as a guardian of mafia interests," said Katincharova.

She argued that the prosecution service is not neutral, and it is not a symbol of justice - "it sees and hears selectively, make arrests with much noise where it is politically convenient, and remains silent where it is dangerous for its own".

In recent months, we have witnessed systematic pressure on mayors who are not part of the power circle, said Katincharova. Mayors are being “bought”—projects suddenly open up to them, funding appears, she noted. This is not cooperation, she said—it’s the beginning of dependence, which is difficult to break free from. According to her, the model is clear: centralization of power through repression at the local level.

"Doesn’t anyone recognize the symptoms of a creeping dictatorship?" she asked, adding that "we are all next on the list."

Velichie condemn these actions and call for the immediate end of "the abuse of justice for political purposes." 

They also call for an investigation into the theft of state land worth hundreds of millions of euros and strict parliamentary oversight over anti-corruption bodies and the prosecution service.