CEC Ignored EU Regulation on Party Advertising: Kostadinov Accused of Violating the Rules

Yesterday, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) made the unprecedented decision not to apply a regulation from the European Commission (EC) regarding the financing of advertising materials for parties on the territory of Bulgaria, said the leader of "Vazrazhdane" Kostadin Kostadinov to journalists in the corridors of parliament.

With regulation number 900 of 2024 and its supplement from 2025, the obligations of each party in the European Union (EU) during an election campaign are amended. The main obligation for each party becomes that each of its visual advertising materials must be marked with text stating where the funding comes from and the amount thereof, Kostadinov pointed out.

According to him, the regulation requires requisites - a declaration for political advertising, the identity of the sponsor, and an announcement of transparency, with the possibility of choosing between text or a QR code.

"We will send this regulation to the CEC, which obviously has not read, because there will be a very serious problem for the companies that will publish advertising materials and not the party, but the company will pay a 6% fine," added Kostadinov.

He explained that the regulations are mandatory, they do not need to be included in the country's legislation, but are applied directly and no change in the Electoral Code is needed. This regulation clearly states that if a company publishes such material without the indication of financing, it is subject to a fine of 6% of the turnover. "All those who explain how good it is to be in the EU are ready to trample on the rules of the EC and the EU," commented Kostadinov.

"Companies say that they will not upload such materials until announcements are provided to them, and there is panic in the headquarters of the political parties. I do not like this, and I do not agree and we have repeatedly stated that our country should be independent," said the party leader. 

Asked what will be written on the advertising materials of "Vazrazhdane", Kostadinov replied "that they are subsidized by our subsidy".

Asked what his assessment was for this parliament, Kostadinov pointed out that it is another parliament of lost historical time for Bulgaria. What worries me most is that at the moment the Bulgarian people are facing a choice, which can once again put our country in a deep dead end. The only political force that offers a different model of independence is us, he added.