site.btaEuropean Liberals Call for Action on Political Arrests in Bulgaria

The Congress of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), held on October 24-25 in Brussels, adopted a resolution condemning political arrests, politically motivated prosecutions, and the erosion of the rule of law in Bulgaria, the Continue the Change (CC) party said in a press release on Saturday.

Representing CC at the Congress were the party leader Assen Vassilev, CC-DB co-floor leader Nikolay Denkov, former CC co-leader Kiril Petkov, and CC-DB deputy floor leader Lena Borislavova.

According to the press release, the ALDE resolution calls on member parties to raise the issue of unlawful political detentions in Bulgaria before their national parliaments, requesting hearings with foreign ministers and through their ambassadors in Bulgaria.

It also demands the temporary suspension of payments under Bulgaria’s Recovery and Resilience Plan until all political prisoners are released, CC added.

The resolution confirmed the decision to organize an ALDE fact-finding mission to Bulgaria to assess the state of the rule of law and report to the ALDE Bureau.

A few days ago, during debates in the European Parliament, ALDE leader Svenja Hahn called on the European Commission to act immediately. She warned that, “If we lose democracy in Bulgaria, we lose Bulgaria itself.” The discussion, initiated by the Renew Europe group, focused on the “ongoing attacks on democratic institutions and the rule of law in Bulgaria,” according to CC.