Cautious praise for Romania and Bulgaria
Both Bulgaria and Romania have made progress in judiciary reform and the fight against corruption, the EU Commission affirms in this year's progress report. But both countries, which have been under observation since they joined the EU in 2007, must make more progress with their reforms, the report finds, stressing that Romania in particular must not neglect the fight against corruption. Media in both countries are far from satisfied with what their politicians have accomplished.
Romania still the problem child
The EU's negative report on Romania's progress should bring the government to its senses, Hotnews advises:
“After such a report Justice Minister Tudorel Toader should resign and the parliament should revoke the laws that are causing such an upset in Romania's entire judicial system as quickly as possible. ... The actions of the government and parliament have destroyed practically any chance of the EU monitoring mechanism being discontinued in the near future. ... So in fact it's a good thing that the EU is keeping tabs on Romania, because that means there's still hope. The bad news is that Romania risks losing a lot of money. For years now the EU Commission has been discussing making the country's access to EU funding contingent on its adherence to the rule of law.”
Report should unite Bulgarians, not divide them
Bulgaria's government and opposition are both interpreting the progress report to their advantage and using it to attack each other, 24 Chasa criticises:
“In the process they're forgetting that the report makes no distinction between those in power and those in the opposition. Every government has its positive and negative sides. We must finally understand that both the people and the political elite - government and opposition alike - will have to act together to solve Bulgaria's problems. This is about the common good, not the approval ratings of this or that politician.”