European Liberals urge Commission to suspend €653 million for Bulgaria over politically driven trial

Brussels is under pressure to freeze a €653 million disbursement to Bulgaria after European liberal lawmakers accused Sofia of weaponising its anti-corruption body to suppress political opponents.

Politico first reported on a letter from Renew Europe president Valérie Hayer to Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration and Valdis Dombrovskis – European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification, urging an immediate suspension of Bulgaria’s second payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

EUalive has obtained the full text of the letter, which lays out detailed allegations that the government in Sofia is using institutions intended to strengthen the rule of law as tools of political repression.

“The most alarming evidence”

At the heart of the controversy is the detention of Blagomir Kotsev, the democratically elected mayor of Varna and a member of Renew’s political family (We Continue the Change party), who was arrested in July on charges of involvement in an organised criminal group for corruption. The Sofia Court of Appeal confirmed his detention on 23 September, triggering another wave of protests in Bulgaria.

The ugly arrest of the first honest mayor of Varna explained

Hayer’s letter describes his case in stark terms: “The most alarming evidence of this institutional perversion is the imprisonment of Blagomir Kotsev, the democratically elected mayor of Varna, alongside three other opposition officials.”

She argues that Kotsev has been held under “exceptionally severe detention conditions” including high-security confinement, minimal outdoor access and indefinite restrictions justified solely by claims his liberty might disturb the investigation. Case files, she writes, have been withheld, due process obstructed and judicial oversight circumvented.

One of the prosecution’s key witnesses against Kotsev – his former deputy, Dian Ivanov – declared as early as July that his testimony before the Anti-Corruption Commission had been given under pressure. In early September, Ivanov further stated that he had received a death threat, yet was never questioned by the anti-corruption body about the pressure he had faced. He has been adamant that he never implicated Kotsev in any crime. Neither the court nor the prosecution has been swayed by this.

“This represents not an anti-corruption success story, but precisely its antithesis,” the letter states. “A milestone designed to guarantee institutional independence is being weaponized to neutralize democratically elected opposition through politicized enforcement – a direct assault on the democratic values that underpin our European project.”

In Bulgaria, anti-corruption becomes repression

A strategically vital city

The letter situates the case in a broader geopolitical frame, underscoring Varna’s importance as NATO’s Black Sea hub and the EU’s eastern maritime gateway. Hayer warns that destabilising democratic governance in the city plays directly into Moscow’s hands: “An EU-funded ‘anti-corruption’ commission that facilitates the removal of Varna’s democratically elected leadership represents not merely a domestic governance failure, but a direct threat to European security architecture.”

Hayer contends that Bulgaria has “systematically delivered” an anti-corruption apparatus that functions as a political weapon, systematically collecting compromising material for selective targeting of opponents, deliberate obstruction of EPPO investigations through delayed searches, withheld banking records, and concealed procurement evidence, security services and prosecutorial institutions subordinated to private networks controlled by Magnitsky-sanctioned oligarch Delyan Peevski, rather than democratic accountability, legislative amendments that systematically weaken legal safeguards, enabling indefinite pre-trial detention and creating pathways for sustained political imprisonment.

Peevski, who currently leads the party he has taken over, DPS – New Beginning, is sanctioned not only by the United States but also by the United Kingdom for corruption. DPS – New Beginning supports the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov, which is currently in power.

Peevski Über Alles: Bulgaria’s descent into political turmoil

Hayer’s letter also criticises legislative changes enabling indefinite pre-trial detention and notes that Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor continues to serve beyond his constitutional mandate in violation of RRF requirements. These developments, she argues, amount to a “systematic betrayal” of the EU’s conditionality mechanisms.

Call for immediate suspension

The Renew Europe Group outlines three urgent recommendations:

A formal review of the cases involving Kotsev and three other detained opposition figures – Nikolay Stefanov, Jordan Kateliev and Nikola Barbutov (he is a former deputy mayor of Sofia, indicted and detained in connection with another case) – as part of milestone compliance assessment.
Suspension of the €653 million disbursement until the review is complete and Bulgaria has taken remedial measures.
Enhanced monitoring protocols to ensure genuine compliance with democratic governance standards before future payments.

Hayer concludes with a stark warning: “To authorize disbursement now would constitute EU financing of political repression in a strategically vital city, embolden Moscow’s destabilization efforts, and irreparably damage the credibility of our conditionality mechanisms.”

Commission response

A Commission spokesperson, quoted by Politico, confirmed that Bulgaria’s payment request, submitted in July, is under assessment “in close cooperation with Bulgarian authorities” and that an opinion will be issued in due course. However, the spokesperson declined to comment on the role of Bulgaria’s anti-corruption commission while the review is ongoing.

So far, Sofia has received €1.37 billion of the €6 billion allocated under its recovery plan. All funds must be absorbed by the end of 2026, provided Bulgaria meets the agreed milestones.

The dispute over Kotsev’s detention now threatens to test the credibility of the EU’s rule of law conditionality. As Hayer’s letter underscores, for Renew Europe the issue is not whether Bulgaria receives EU money, but under what democratic conditions.

Caption: Protest in Varna demanding the release of the mayor, held on 22 September on the eve of the appellate court hearing. Banners read “Free the political prisoners” and “Shame,” accompanied by an image of a pig, the way opponents depict Delyan Peevski. Photo: Blagomir Kotsev’s Facebook page.