Sofia, June 11 (BTA) -  A new procedure for proposing six
European Delegated Prosecutors from Bulgaria will begin on June
16. This transpired at a news conference that European Chief
Prosecutor Laura Kovesi held here on Friday before the end of
her two-day visit to Sofia. She added that a constructive
solution to the issue had been found after her meetings in the
Bulgarian capital.

Bulgaria is entitled to ten European Delegated Prosecutor
positions at the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). On
February 18, Bulgaria sent the EPPO the names of ten proposed
European Delegated Prosecutors, but six of them were rejected by
 the EPPO College on April 7 because they did not meet the
eligibility criteria. The EPPO requested new nominations, but
the Prosecutors Chamber terminated the selection procedure on
June 2 because none of the candidates under the current
procedure have been approved by six or more votes as required.

Kovesi conferred with Justice Minister Yanaki Stoilov and with
Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev on Thursday and with the Supreme
Judicial Council's Prosecutors Chamber on Friday.

The European Chief Prosecutor said on Friday the new nominees
should be independent and experienced in combatting corruption,
money laundering and all other crimes that are under the EPPO's
jurisdiction.

In Sofia, Kovesi said that she will personally oversee the cases
 for Bulgaria which are handled by her office, as well as the
cases for Germany and Latvia. She said if a politician calls her
 and tries to influence her work, she will expose them publicly.
 

The guest also explained that the cases to be probed by the EPPO
 will be randomly allocated. 

Her office has already received alerts from the national
authorities and from OLAF: 300 cases and 120 private complaints,
 including some from Bulgaria. 

If there is sufficient information, Kovesi's office will
investigate all of these cases. She urged people to whistleblow
directly to the EPPO and commented that only an independent
judiciary can mete out justice. 

When the European Chief Prosecutor met with the Prosecutors
Chamber earlier on Friday, the sides "vowed to keep up
cooperation and constructive dialogue in the interest of
people," the Supreme Judicial Council said in a press release.

The Prosecutor General, all Prosecutors Chamber members, the
Bulgarian representative to the EPPO Teodora Georgieva, the head
 of Kovesi's cabinet Milan Yaron and her spokesperson Tine
Hollevoet attended the meeting. NV/LN/LG