Is a European cordon sanitaire against Peevski coming?

The parties that are members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) are considering a revision of the membership of the MRF-Peevski. This is clear from the response of Secretary General Diedrik de Schätzen to a journalist’s inquiry. It is not yet clear when this will happen. The leader of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, Valerie Hayer, said that a discussion is planned in the political group to make an in-depth analysis and assess the situation.

De Schetzen and Hayer were contacted for comment on the numerous signals of vote buying by Peevski’s party MRF-New Beginning in the last parliamentary elections, as well as on their attitude to the fact that the leader of the party was sanctioned for corruption by the United States and Great Britain, and by the United States for human rights violations under the Magnitsky Act.

First concern

ALDE’s comment is the first of its kind from a European political family after the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, marked by massive vote buying and electoral fraud with the protocols.

“I confirm that the ALDE party is concerned about the allegations of voting fraud in the last elections and wishes to see that this is duly investigated by the authorities immediately, and if indeed the Constitutional Court is seized and considers the result illegitimate, then new elections should be held,” de Schätzen writes.

However, Peevski’s takeover of the MRF was seen as an “internal dispute” and not as a larger-scale undermining of the rule of law.

“The ALDE party is aware of the internal dispute that is still ongoing in the MRF and is concerned about how this destroys the party. There is naturally growing concern on the part of our members, which is likely to lead to a revision of their membership status,” de Schetzen continues.

The response from Valerie Hayer says that Renew Europe received “a lot of information from various sources, at times contradictory” about the October elections.

“In order to ensure a thorough and accurate understanding of the situation and its consequences, we have planned a discussion in our group,” Heyer promised, without giving any deadline and without commenting on Peevski’s presence on the US and UK sanctions lists.

In fact, ALDE has been reaffirming its position against Peevski since July, initiated by parties from Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, but it is still unclear when it will come to real action to expel Peevski’s MRF, which continues to flaunt the brand of the liberals and more generally, its membership in Renew Europe.

PPDB MEPs are also not active on the issue. Radan Kanev is seen as a geopolitical commentator, and Nikola Minchev and MEP Hristo are obviously absorbed in everyday issues in Brussels, instead of deploying the “sanitary cordon” at European level.

At the other pole, however, it boils and boils. MEP Elena Yoncheva loudly defends her new corpulent boss from political isolation and compares it to fascism. Probably, with similar fervor, she will throw herself on the embrasure in the LIBE Commission to defend Peevski, who is sanctioned for corruption and human rights violations, who provided her with another five years of Brussels salary.

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