Risks to the Chiren investigation and the national selection procedure for European prosecutors

Priority question for written answer P-001159/2026
to the Commission
Rule 144
Nikola Minchev (Renew)

In March 2025, Bulgaria's Teodora Georgieva, a European prosecutor at the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), began to be targeted by corruption allegations and video recordings. The allegations arose shortly after Georgieva moved forward with the EU-funded Chiren gas investigation and informed media that public officials were obstructing the case. Following her recent whistleblower testimony, emerging evidence suggests that these attacks against her were coordinated.

While the EPPO must not compromise on integrity and must fully investigate and sanction any proven misconduct, this pattern points to a systematic strategy: the appointment of candidates with pre-existing vulnerabilities who can later be pressured via 'dormant files'. Consequently, valid disciplinary proceedings risk being weaponised in order to derail high-level fraud cases. Furthermore, recent reports regarding the ongoing selection of Bulgaria's next European prosecutor highlight similar structural flaws.

• 1.Is the Commission aware of the risk that the timing of these 'kompromat' tactics, initiated in 2025, was specifically calculated to obstruct the investigation into the Chiren gas expansion case?
• 2.What measures will be taken to ensure that the potential dismissal of the prosecutor does not result in the delay or termination of the Chiren probe and to ensure that the file is transferred to a team with guaranteed independence and which is capable of navigating the national Bulgarian landscape?
• 3.How will the Commission address deficiencies in the national selection procedure during the next revision of the EPPO Regulation[1] in order to ensure future appointments are solely merit-based and immune to undue influence?

Submitted: 19.3.2026

• [1] Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office ('the EPPO') (OJ L 283, 31.10.2017, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/1939/oj).