“If you think that there should be changes, I’m not so sure about it,” Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin told Bulgarian National Television (BNT), when asked whether changes in Cabinet should be made, given the European Commission's (EC) report on Bulgaria’s progress in the fight against organised crime and corruption, presented on July 23 2008.

“Currently, no European Union funds embezzlement for a single lev has been proved. I don’t exclude that possibility, as there are many investigations,” Kalfin said.

“I don’t think there is any problem in the communication with Brussels,” he said. Commenting on the report, Kalfin said that “it was not about lack of trust, it is about exerting pressure to provoke political will in Bulgaria”.

Political analyst Antonii Todorov, invited to speak about the report on the same show, said: "We should be ashamed, because it affects not only our image, but also the way the world sees us." Analyst Ivan Krustev said that it was the most severe tone that the had EC used towards an EU member state. The EC reports said exactly the things every Bulgarian was thinking, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Meglena Plougchieva told private broadcaster Nova Television that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) had not received sufficient co-operation and information from Bulgaria in the past two years.

Plougchieva also commented on the problems in the National Road Infrastructure Fund. “The fact that the EC froze funding for the fund under the Ispa pre-accession programme was indicative of the failed management model of the fund," Plougchieva said. Asked why the management of the fund, which is to be blamed for the failed management model, was not punished, the minister said: “These are political decisions, made by the coalition cabinet and the leaders of the parties in the coalition.”

Plougchieva said that she wanted to make it clear that “currently, there is frozen funding. Bulgaria might not lose money, if it does its job”. However, Bulgaria may lose money under Phare [pre-accession programme] because it missed deadlines under the programme.