By Martin Banks - 5th February 2009
I have no intention of leaving the Bulgarian party system to join a foreign party. My only contact with Libertas was when I met Jens Peter Bonde at a conference in Bulgaria. I never signed any application or document in relation to Libertas
Mintcho Hristov Kuminev
It might be a coincidence or it might be a concerted effort to intimidate or otherwise influence those who expressly support the advancement of democracy, that this is the second signatory who feels they must now distance themselves from their actions
Libertas statement
This has now descended into total farce. But there is also a serious side to the matter because it shows that Libertas were trying to fool the parliamentary authorities into believing that they had a level of support stronger than is actually the case
Richard Corbett
Libertas, the anti-Lisbon treaty group, has mounted a robust defence of its efforts to gain recognition as a pan-European party.
It comes after the group, set up by Irish businessman Declan Ganley, suffered a further setback in its efforts to win acknowledgment and access EU funding.
Mintcho Hristov Kuminev, a member of the Bulgarian parliament, claims not to have signed Libertas's application to become a European political party.
“I have no intention of leaving the Bulgarian party system to join a foreign party. My only contact with Libertas was when I met [former MEP] Jens Peter Bonde at a conference in Bulgaria. I never signed any application or document in relation to Libertas,” Kuminev told The Irish Times.
His comments come after Estonian MP Igor Grazin also denied signing documents supporting the application of Libertas.
The twin denial forced the anti-Lisbon treaty group to issue a statement late on Wednesday insisting that Kuminev had, in fact, signed its application.
The group also repeated its claims that signatories to its application had subsequently been subject to “intimidation.”
The latest twist in the saga comes after the European parliament, earlier this week, agreed to Libertas’s application, which entitles it to €200,000 of EU funds. This has now been put on hold pending a review by parliament’s bureau.
The Libertas statement says, “The document, together with the required copy of Kuminev's passport and his member's pass for the Bulgarian parliament, is in our possession and we invite any interested party to view it.”
It has published photographs showing the signature of Grazin on documents supporting its application.
The statement continues, “It might be a coincidence or it might be a concerted effort to intimidate or otherwise influence those who expressly support the advancement of democracy, that this is the second Libertas signatory who feels they must now distance themselves from their actions.
“We appreciate that they both gave us their initial support. We deplore the corrupt, dishonest and anti-democratic forces that are pushing them to renounce their support.
“We are mildly amused that the other Libertas signatories have not been persuaded to suffer from amnesia.”
It goes on, “Libertas will provide over and above the required number of signatures in spite of - and partially as a result of - this blatantly anti-democratic campaign to undermine the first truly pan-European party.
“We will succeed in our campaign of democracy, accountability and transparency.”
Under the rules governing the founding of European political parties, an organisation must present an application with the signatures of European or national politicians from at least seven different countries.
Responding to latest developments, UK Socialist MEP Richard Corbett said, "This has now descended into total farce. But there is also a serious side to the matter because it shows that Libertas were trying to fool the parliamentary authorities into believing that they had a level of support stronger than is actually the case.
"Parliament bent over backwards to give them EU funds and show it was not biased. But now it has been shown that the basis of their application was unfounded."
Corbett also queried the validity of another of Libertas's signatures, Lord Alton of Liverpool, who is not an elected representative.
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