Bulgaria's Cabinet was preparing for a worst-case scenario in which the European Commission (EC) would halt all structural funding to the country and enforce the safeguard clauses from its European Union accession treaty, Dnevnik daily reported on April 21.

To forestall this scenario, the Government was actively lobbying in several European capitals, looking for support mostly from Berlin, London and Madrid, the daily said, quoting Government sources familiar with the situation.

Sofia is also counting on justice commissioner Franco Frattini, now on leave and expected to join the new Italian cabinet of Silvio Berlusconi. Frattini has traditionally been lenient on Bulgaria and even spent a weekend skiing with outgoing Interior Minister Roumen Petkov in Borovets last year, which prompted sharp criticism in Brussels, Dnevnik said.

The Cabinet is afraid that the recent corruption rows that prompted the EC to halt part of the funding under all pre-accession aid programmes, as well as the allegations that Petkov interfered with police investigations, would earn Bulgaria sharp criticism in the progress report on the reform of the judiciary and the fight against organised crime, due in July.

The enforcing of the safeguard clause, which now appears unlikely, or the freeze of EU funding, which is a much more real threat, would likely topple the Government of Socialist Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and snap elections, Dnevnik claimed, quoting the same sources.

EU's regional policies commissioner Danuta Huebner, who will visit Sofia at end-May to assess the progress Bulgarian authorities have made in utilising funds under the Ispa infrastructure aid pre-accession programme, is likely to have the final word on whether structural funds for Bulgaria would be halted, the daily said.