Liberal European Parliament groups ALDE and Renew have decided to expel Bulgarian centrist party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), citing the leadership being taken by what they alleged was its “corrupt” leader Delyan Peevski.
The move to expel the DPS came after the US-sanctioned oligarch Peevski was elected as the sole leader of the party on December 20.
In 2021, the US sanctioned Peevski and two others for what it said were “their extensive roles in corruption in Bulgaria” under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Report of 2022.
That act authorised the US Government to sanction foreign government officials worldwide deemed human-rights offenders, to freeze their assets and ban them from entering the US.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) said: “Peevski is a controversial figure who has been sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act by both the United Kingdom and the United States for large-scale corruption.”
“His political actions are seen as detrimental to democratic principles and political stability in Bulgaria.”
ALDE is a pan-European political group composed of 60 national-level parties from across Europe.
The move to expel the MRF ended 23 years of partnership between ALDE and the Bulgarian party.
ALDE Party President Svenja Hahn, a German MEP, said: “At ALDE Party, we take the fight against corruption and the defence of the rule of law seriously. A party led by an individual sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act has no place in our family.”
“I therefore recommend that our Council take decisive action to terminate the membership of the Peevski-led MRF in the ALDE Party.”
Following ALDE’s move, Renew, the Liberal group in the European Parliament, has also decided to remove the MRF MEPs from its ranks.
“The Rule of law is the DNA of our group. The values of the DPS-Peevski faction are fundamentally incompatible with those of Renew Europe. Therefore, I will recommend the immediate exclusion of the DPS-Peevski party from our group,” said Renew President Valérie Hayer.
Before the expulsion of the MRF was finalised, the Bulgarian party had decided to leave ALDE and encouraged MEPs elected under the MRF to leave Renew.
Bulgarian MEP Taner Kabilov announced on December 23 that he had decided to leave according to the decisions of the highest body of the party.
“This is not an emotional decision – it is the result of the deepening distancing of policies from the agenda of the citizens of Bulgaria and from their priorities, as well as the demonstrable double standards by ALDE regarding the accusations of corruption and abuse of power, which have shaken our country in recent months,” he said.
