The Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee has decided to form a specialized working group to operate between the two votes to refine the legislative texts. This decision follows the first reading of the bill to amend and supplement the Penal Code, which proposes the introduction of a new Chapter "a" in its special part, titled "Crimes against European Union restrictive measures".

The bill, supported by 18 MPs with one vote against, aims to establish offenses and corresponding sanctions for violating restrictive measures imposed by the European Union. According to Deputy Minister of Justice Irena Borisova, the goal is to criminalize certain acts committed in violation of the Union's measures, ensuring penalties that are effective, deterrent, and proportionate in type and scale, in accordance with EU-level requirements. The need for these legislative changes arises from the deadline for transposing the relevant EU directive, which expired at the beginning of the year.

These legislative changes will apply to the legal framework and security across the entire country, including the residents of Burgas and the region.

Regarding political support, representatives from "PP-DB" (We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria) announced they will vote for the bill, despite noting certain inaccuracies in its wording. A completely different position was taken by Petar Petrov of "Vazrazhdane", who stated he will not support the changes at the first reading. His disagreement is based on two main reasons: the imperfections of the bill and his categorical opposition to the criminalization of actions or omissions that are deemed to be connected in any way to the Russian Federation. "We are categorically against the criminalization of certain actions or omissions which, if deemed to be connected in any way to the Russian Federation, should be subject to punishment under the Penal Code," Petrov commented.