The European Commission did not put any pressure on Bulgaria's Cabinet to sack Interior Minister Roumen Petkov, Commission spokesperson Mark Gray said on April 14, as quoted by Bulgarian National Radio.

The issue was a domestic matter, decided by Bulgarian authorities alone, Gray said.

Asked whether Bulgaria has enough time to meet the EC's requirements before the next interim report on progress with judiciary reform and the fight against corruption and organised crime is published, Gray said it was up to the Bulgarian Cabinet to make the effort to speed up reforms. The report is due in July.

European Union experts will travel to Bulgaria and Romania, both of whom have safeguard clauses written into their EU accession treaties, to assess the progress in April and May. The two countries joined the EU together in January 2007.

Petkov resigned on April 13, saying he was accountable for personnel choices at the Interior Ministry that undermined the authority of state institutions and the ruling coalition. He admitted to meeting businessmen under investigation by police, but claimed that it was done in the best interest of the state. His numerous critics, however, accused him of being instrumental in protecting organised crime circles from police investigations.

The EC has repeatedly stressed the need for Bulgaria to speed up judiciary reform and fight corruption. Suspicions of malfeasance have prompted the EU's executive body to freeze funds allocated under the Sapard, Phare and Ispa pre-accession aid programmes in recent months. Local media have speculated that a similar fate awaited the structural funds unless Sofia cleaned up its act. The country due to receive 6.67 billion euro under seven EU operational programmes by 2013.