Mr. President, Ministers, Your
excellencies, respected members and participants in this
Forum,
Thank you for your invitation to come and speak here
today on the topic of the dynamics of corruption in Bulgaria.
The issue of how Bulgaria addresses the problem of
corruption is of the utmost importance as Bulgaria seeks
integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions, expands economic
growth through foreign trade and investment, and provides a safe
and democratic environment for its citizens. This is also why the
efforts of Coalition 2000 to research and publish reports on
corruption in this country are so valuable and why the American
government and in particular the Agency for International
Development has been pleased to give support to the Coalition for
the past few years.
Recently Bulgaria has shown signs of progress in the
fight against corruption. According to Transparency International,
Bulgaria has moved up to 47th place in the world in 2001 from 60th
place in the corruption perception index. The current government,
which to a degree was elected on the basis of the corruption issue,
has promulgated a national anti-corruption strategy. This strategy
provides for, among other things, guaranteeing transparency in the
public administration, enhancing financial and physical controls
and reducing corruption in local government and the financing of
political parties. Last October, the government issued a National
Strategy for the Reform of the Judiciary. We applaud these
initiatives and we look to the Bulgarian government to implement
them vigorously. We stand ready to assist as much as possible in
addressing corruption and serious crime issues in Bulgaria.
Indeed we are already doing so through the work of
our resident legal advisor, through the anti-trafficking task
force, which is assisted by an FBI special agent, who has been
resident in Bulgaria for several months now and a whole host of
what we call "rule of law programs", funded through the Agency for
International Development. We still support the Southeast European
Cooperative Initiative, known as SECI, which among other things is
working actively with the Bulgarian Customs Service to enhance its
capacity to hold contraband and to collect legitimate tariffs. Over
the coming year we plan to increase greatly our support for
Bulgaria's anti-corruption program, particularly the work of the
National Audit Office, the Council of Ministers and the
anti-corruption task force. In short, we are providing expertise
and equipment on a significant scale and we will continue doing so
in cooperation with the government of Bulgaria.
But all of the paper, all of the ink and money the
US and the EU can expend, will amount to little without courage and
cooperation on the part of honest Bulgarian political leaders,
judges, prosecutors and police officials. Newspaper reports about
"alleged" and "corruption" are not enough. The successful
prosecution of corrupt officials, including judges, is required
before the public faith in government can be restored. At the same
time Bulgaria should avoid having such prosecutions to generate
into politically motivated witch-hunts.
One way, I believe, to achieve the right balance is
to continue the initiatives within the executive branch, which were
started during the first one hundred days of this new Bulgarian
administration, and to begin significant reforms in the judiciary,
many of which are outlined in the Ministry of Justice's five-year
Strategy plan announced in November. Some small changes could yield
big results. But some fundamental changes are needed as well. Here
are a few suggestions:
- Swift and focused investigations and prosecution of
seriously compromised privatization deals are needed. Such
investigations should not, however, appear politically inspired,
should be limited in number and should be resolved quickly to avoid
discouraging law-abiding foreign investors.
- Improvements in the Customs service should
continue, not only with respect to removing dishonest officers
through an active and well-trained Internal Affairs Inspectorate,
but also through the reorganization of procedures to minimize
opportunities for corruption. One suggestion is to set up one-stop
systems for collecting tolls, fees and other tariffs at border
crossings. This has currently been done in Moldova. This would
speed up the collection of fees and would reduce opportunities for
bribes.
- The Ministries of Interior and Justice might
consider establishing internal affairs offices with the
independence and the power needed to investigate allegations of
police or judicial misconduct and to punish offenders
accordingly.
- Implementation of a mechanism for the fair
distribution of cases among judges is needed. The European Union
has criticized the lack of transparency or even impartial
randomness in the current system.
- A transparent and consistent system for training
and promoting magistrates should be established. Adequate training
must be provided to all new and all sitting judges.
- Financial disclosure laws, obliging politicians and
public servants to tell the Bulgarian people what they own can be
further strengthened by the creation of better enforcement
mechanisms.
- Last but not least, the fundamental incentive for
corruption - self-enrichment - must be attacked by ensuring that
ill-gotten gains and their proceeds are frozen and forfeited. This
will almost certainly require the introduction of amendments to
Bulgaria's civil and criminal law as well as better cooperation
between the Bureau of Financial Intelligence, the prosecutors and
the banks.
Implementation of reforms to combat corruption will
not be easy. It has not been easy in any country, including in the
United States. But Bulgaria's future as a fully integrated member
of European and Euro-Atlantic institution depends on it. Just the
continuation of the perception of pervasive corruption in this
society is doing very real damage to Bulgaria's prospects. Together
Bulgarian political leaders, financial institutions, law
enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations, such as our
host here today at Coalition 2000 and the international community
can break the grip of corruption and can speed Bulgaria's path to
political integration and economic prosperity.
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