Tempus
|
|
Tidskriften
|
By Stephen Castle Published: October 27, 2008
When Bulgaria joined the European Union last year, this was
supposed to mark the start of an ambitious drive to modernize
the former Soviet bloc country and bring it finally into the European
political mainstream.
Twenty-two months later, the Bulgarian government has only a few
weeks to avert the loss of millions of euros in European subsidies
- and an unprecedented sanction from Brussels.
At stake for Bulgaria is almost half a billion euros of aid that
was frozen in July after a scathing report from the European Commission
concluded that the money was vulnerable to fraud and mismanagement.
European officials are due in Sofia this week to conduct an audit
and, if this goes badly, Bulgaria will lose €220 million,
or $277 million, of the frozen aid because of a deadline that
expires next month.
Sluggish Bulgarian progress on combating irregularities
and its lack of convictions in cases involving high-level corruption
have become a stark reminder of the difficulties of integrating
fragile, ex-Communist nations.
With relations poor between the EU and Russia after Moscow's military
action in Georgia, Europe wants to improve ties with countries
on its eastern flank. Offering them a path to membership might
be an obvious strategy.
Bulgarian and Romanian accession illustrates why officials are
erring on the side of caution.
One of the unstated reasons for admitting Bulgaria and
Romania in 2007 was to keep them out of Moscow's growing sphere
of influence. But that has come at a price.
Some €11 billion in subsidies are due to be paid between
2007-13, and officials are alarmed that much of it might be siphoned
off by criminals.
Since July, the Bulgarian government has sought to give the impression
that it is campaigning hard to redress weaknesses, identifying
101 new cases of suspected irregularities in agriculture funding.
Earlier this month, a Bulgarian businessman, Mario Nikolov, was
one of a group of people who went on trial, accused of fraudulently
obtaining EU agriculture subsidies. Nikolov's business empire
was described in a leaked report from the EU fraud investigation
unit, Olaf, as a "criminal company network."
Critics in the opposition, like Nickolay Mladenov, a
center-right Bulgarian member of the European Parliament foreign
affairs committee, remain unconvinced than the government has
made proper reforms.
"People need to be convinced," Mladenov said, "not
just in Brussels but in Bulgaria, that procedures have been put
in place so that this does not happen again and that those responsible
are arrested and put on trial. The problem is that this whole
situation affects negatively projects that are not corrupt - initiatives
that the country needs."
The spokesman for Olaf, Alessandro Buttice, appeared to agree
Monday. "The performance of the judiciary is still questionable,"
Buttice said in a statement. "The dismissal of cases in court
without convincing explanations is still frequent."
Commission officials are also concerned about Romania.
Earlier this month, the European Commission president, José
Manuel Barroso, urged the Romanian government "to treat the
fight against high-level corruption as an issue of national importance."
Bulgarian and Romanian ministers argue that their countries face
tougher scrutiny than nations that joined the EU in 2004 because
the climate of public opinion has hardened against enlargement.
That idea was rejected by Mark Gray, a spokesman for the European
Commission, who said that, while weaknesses had been identified
in other nations, "these were the two countries where the
EU felt that a specific mechanism was required" to deal with
problems.
"Specific commitments were made by Bulgaria and Romania at
the time of accession," Gray said, "and the EU is determined
that these commitments must be honored."
Nicu Popescu, research fellow at the European Council
on Foreign Relations, said that the problems in Romania and Bulgaria
have given opponents of EU enlargement a new argument. "No
one in the EU talks about Moldova or Ukraine joining the bloc
in the near future," he added.
The case of Bulgaria and Romania - both given an accession date
before they had made essential reforms - has already prompted
the European Commission to take a sterner look at potential new
members, including Croatia.
And the Croatians are facing their own challenges, as illustrated
last week by the slaying of a prominent journalist, Ivo Pukanic,
killed by a hidden explosive device. The EU is pressing Croatia
to combat corruption and organized crime.
"What has happened in Romania and Bulgaria has changed the
rules of the game," said Mladenov, the Bulgarian member of
the European Parliament.
