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Bulgaria: Officials Tackle Corruption Bulgaria: Officials Tackle Corruption
(3 days later)
Bulgaria announced plans on Friday to form a special unit to investigate high-level corruption, following a neighbor, Romania, in seeking to shed an image as one of Europe’s most corrupt states. Corruption has eroded Bulgarians’ trust in their public institutions and been a deterrent to businesses for years. The European Union has repeatedly criticized the Bulgarian authorities for failing to jail officials and overhaul the country’s slow and inefficient judiciary. Those failures have kept Bulgaria out of the European Union’s passport-free travel zone. The new unit will consist of prosecutors, investigators and inspectors and start operations by the early 2016. The government estimates that 7,670 officials could become targets for investigation, and officials said people who tip off authorities would receive money if their information led to convictions. “Bulgaria has a problem with corruption,” Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva said. Mr. Kuneva wants Bulgaria to emulate Romania, where senior politicians, officials and businessmen have been investigated or jailed. Bulgaria announced plans on Friday to form a special unit to investigate high-level corruption, following a neighbor, Romania, in seeking to shed an image as one of Europe’s most corrupt states. Corruption has eroded Bulgarians’ trust in their public institutions and been a deterrent to businesses for years. The European Union has repeatedly criticized the Bulgarian authorities for failing to jail officials and overhaul the country’s slow and inefficient judiciary. Those failures have kept Bulgaria out of the European Union’s passport-free travel zone. The new unit will consist of prosecutors, investigators and inspectors and start operations by the early 2016. The government estimates that 7,670 officials could become targets for investigation, and officials said people who tip off authorities would receive money if their information led to convictions. “Bulgaria has a problem with corruption,” Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva said. Ms. Kuneva wants Bulgaria to emulate Romania, where senior politicians, officials and businessmen have been investigated or jailed.