The Alliance of Liberals in Europe (ALDE) has also demanded a "sanitary cordon" around Peevski. This is clear from a material by Euractiv. ALDE proposed a "sanitary cordon" against Delyan Peevski, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – A New Beginning, which is under sanctions by the US, the material says.
„ALDE“ understands why parties in Bulgaria are seeking to create a “sanitary cordon“ around Delyan Peevski, who was sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act, and his political force“, the European political party told Euractiv on Friday.
Here is what else the article says:
Peevski is considered by political experts to be the main obstacle to Bulgaria forming a government after the October 26 elections. In June 2021, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Peevski for corruption. He is also subject to similar sanctions by the United Kingdom.
Peevski's DPS-New Beginning won 11% of the vote in the last parliamentary elections - the seventh in just four years.
In July, Peevski challenged Ahmed Dogan - the historic leader of the mainly Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms - for control of the party. As a result, the party split – Peevski's party won 11%, while Dogan's party, now called the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, won only 7%.
President Rumen Radev has accused Peevski's party of massive vote-buying and fraud in the counting of ballots, but no investigations have been carried out.
The chances of forming a government depend largely on the two largest political forces - Boyko Borisov's GERB (EPP), which won 25% of the vote, and the pro-European liberal coalition "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (PP-DB), which is second with 14.3%.
PP-DB has said it will support Borisov if he agrees to a so-called "cordon sanitaire" against Peevski. Borisov opposed this call, possibly due to his close ties to Peevski in the past.
When asked by Euractiv whether Peevski's party was still a member of ALDE, Didrik de Scheitzen, ALDE Secretary General, said that the signature of Dzhevdet Chakarov, a politician on Dogan's side, was on the submitted form confirming the Movement for Rights and Freedoms' membership in ALDE.
“ALDE is eagerly awaiting legal clarity on the court cases related to the leadership of the MRF, on which nothing has been decided yet”, Scheitzen told Euractiv.
More interestingly, De Scheitzen apparently supports the idea of a cordon sanitaire against Peevski.
“We are familiar with the recent attempts to form a government, which we suspect will be complicated, as the election of the speaker of parliament "It took 11 rounds and we understand why the parties in Bulgaria are seeking to create a 'cordon sanitaire', which would be welcomed and would address the same concerns, as previously reported, of some of the current ALDE member parties across Europe," said De Schetzen.
In July, ALDE threatened to expel the MRF over the role of Magnitsky-sanctioned Peevski in the party. At that time, several influential liberal parties sent a letter to ALDE asking it to take a position on Peevski.
Euractiv sent questions to the liberal Renew group about the status of two MEPs representing Peevski, but received no response.