Public Hearing for European Prosecutor: 7 Candidates Compete for the Position

The public hearing of the admitted candidates for European Prosecutor from the Republic of Bulgaria has begun in the building of the Supreme Judicial Council.

The candidates are:

• Boyko Atanasov
• Desislava Pironeva
• Dimitar Belichev
• Ivaylo Iliev
• Mihaela Raydovska
• Plamen Petkov
• Svetlana Shopova-Koleva

The public hearing is the second stage of the procedure, after which the commission will propose three candidates for European Prosecutor. The commission must choose three out of the seven candidates. With a report from the Minister of Justice, the nominations are submitted for approval by the Council of Ministers, after which they are sent to the competent bodies of the European Union (EU), which must choose one of the three.

European prosecutors are appointed by the Council of the EU with a six-year term. The term of the first Bulgarian European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva expires on July 29, 2026. She was temporarily removed from office because of a disciplinary investigation against her. Dimitar Belichev was appointed as her deputy.

Members of the special selection commission are:

• The Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, Venera Milova
• Veronika Imova
• Tsvetinka Pashkunova from the Judges' College of the SJC
• Kalina Chapkanova
• Gergana Mutafova from the Prosecutors' College of the Council
• Prof. Dr. of Law Georgi Mitov from the “Criminal Law Sciences” department of the Faculty of Law of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.