Bulgaria to lose EU aid over funds scandal

The FT says Bulgaria faces losing billions of euros in structural funding after an EU report leaked last week highlighted the country's poor record in fighting organised crime and corruption.

In a separate report, says the paper, also leaked last week, the EU accuses a criminal business group of defrauding the union of pre-accession funds and accuses national authorities of failing to prosecute the case properly.

The paper goes on to say that €600m in pre-accession transfers for Bulgaria is also being frozen as a result of the damning report.

However, according to the Sofia Echo, sanctions will not be imposed on Bulgaria when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The paper says the EU is more likely to give the country support rather than apply a ‘safeguard clause’ that would mean putting a stop on pre-accession and structural funds to the country.

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