Despite EU concerns, Bulgaria appoints new judges

(SOFIA) - Bulgaria's parliament appointed two judges to the country's constitutional court on Wednesday, disregarding European Union concerns about their integrity.

Parliament's deputy speaker Anastas Anastasov and the deputy chairwoman of the Supreme Administrative Court Veneta Markovska won support from a large majority of lawmakers to become constitutional court judges, the parliament press office said.

Bulgarian media called the appointments "expected" and accused lawmakers of failing to take notice of a recent recommendation by the European Commission for parliament to check trading of influence allegations about Markovska that circulated in the press.

Bulgarian media also questioned Anastasov's competency for the job of top judge, due to his limited experience in the judiciary as a small town court chief.

Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007 under a special monitoring mechanism due to its failure to reform its slow, inefficient and non-transparent judiciary.

The European Commission was due to issue its next monitoring report on the country's progress at the end of next year but Wednesday's appointments prompted Brussels to hint it might issue an additional critical report.

"There is always a possibility for us to come up with a revised report before this deadline, should the situation require it," Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said in Brussels.

"The Commission stated many times that judges at the constitutional court must satisfy the highest standards of professionalism and integrity," Bailly said.

The Commission has called on parliament to "carry out thorough checks of allegations of corruption, trade of influence and conflict of interest" and would take note of the fact that no checks were carried out, he said.

burs-ds/wat