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Brussels calls for 'urgent action' against organised crime in Bulgaria

  • Two people have been shot in Sofia in less than 24 hours (Photo: Wikipedia)

The European Commission on Tuesday (8 April) condemned the killings of two high-profile figures that took place in less than 24 hours in Bulgaria, calling for "urgent action" by Sofia against organised crime.

On Sunday evening (6 April) Borislav Georgiev, chief executive of the company in charge of maintaining the reactors for Bulgarian nuclear power plant Kozloduy, was shot dead in front of his home in Sofia, while Georgi Stoev, a former bodyguard turned crime writer, was shot in a park in the Bulgarian capital at midday on Monday and later died of his wounds.

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Mr Stoev was writing about organised crime in Bulgaria.

"Obviously, [these] killings are not just another statistic," a commission spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, these shootings have continued to take place on a regular basis over the last couple of years [in Bulgaria] and without successful prosecution," he added.

For its part, the Bulgarian government has said it would convene a meeting of all law enforcement bodies to establish whether there is any link between these killings and organised crime networks.

Brussels has repeatedly criticised the levels of organised crime and corruption in Bulgaria, which joined the EU on 1 January 2007, as an ever increasing number of businessmen, gangland bosses and other figures having been shot on Bulgarian streets in the last years.

Last month, commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was unusually outspoken on the issue, saying during a visit to the country: "Honestly speaking, we cannot constantly repeat that more needs to be done. Endless investigations, delayed court cases do not amount to justice."

Meanwhile, a report published by the commission in February was also highly critical.

"The commission's analysis of a sample of high-profile cases [of organised crime] registered shows that only one case has been finalised since 2000, and half the cases are still at the investigation stage," the report read.

On Tuesday, Brussels reiterated its call for "urgent action in the area of fighting organised crime" in the Balkan country.

The comments come as work begins on a commission progress report for Bulgaria due out in early summer. Romania, which joined the EU at the same time, will also be assessed.

The reports are part of a close post-accession monitoring mechanism put in place for Sofia and Bucharest in exchange for allowing the two countries become full EU members in 2007 despite shortcomings in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

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