Mon, May 21 2012

Maastricht mayor resigns over Bulgarian holiday home affair

Thu, Jan 14 2010 13:01 CET

byRene Beekman

3219 Views 1 Comment
Maastricht mayor resigns over Bulgarian holiday home affair

 
Photo: provided

Gerd Leers has resigned as mayor of the Dutch town of Maastricht following a damaging report about his conduct in a conflict over a holiday bungalow Leers had bought in Bulgaria.

In an emotional speech to the municipal council, Leers said: "Can I ask you for your compassion? Can eight years of hard work on tough dossiers be undone by one bad match? I don't this is right. Should I leave? I landed in a swamp in Bulgaria. I tried to find a way out. I have openly admitted this. The appearance of conflict of interest is sometimes hard to avoid. I have not broken any laws. I have been clumsy and unwise. But I would like to ask you to give me a chance to repair the damage that I have caused to the image of the city."

In 2006 Leers bought two holiday homes in the Bulgarian town of Byala from real estate developer Marina Black Sea Development for a total of over 230 000 euro. A top municipal official in Leers' municipality was one of the shareholders in the company.

Not only were the homes completed much later than promised, it transpired that the entire project had been used as collateral for a loan by the Bulgarian company and the villas could not be put in Leers' name.

Attempting to solve the situation, Leers turned to the Bulgarian ambassador to the Netherlands.

A report by the Bureau of Integrity Dutch Municipalities, made public on January 9 2010, said Leers' conduct and specifically getting the Bulgarian ambassador involved, had been "clumsy" and "unwise." 

Head of the PvdA (labour party) faction in the council, Manon Fokke, was quoted by Dutch daily De Volkskrant as saying "we have to conclude that the damage to the image of the city is considerable. The authority of Leers' function no longer exists. The situation has become unworkable."

According to De Volkskrant, Leers said he was not afraid of an investigation that is still underway against the top municipal official from whom he bought the holiday home and who was accused of having wrongfully applied for and received European Union funding for the project.

  • Print
  • Send via email
  • Translate to
  • Share:

Comments

Anonymous Under the Covers Thu, Jan 14 2010 19:14 CET
Report Comment

Getting European Union funding to build holiday villas seems to me far more reprehensible than Geer's contacting the Bulgarian ambassador when he was trying to sort out the mess he was landed in.

From the report there is no suggestion that Geers tried to have improper influence used.


To post comments, please, Login or Register.


Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.

Black Sea quagmire

A decision to buy holiday homes in Bulgaria ultimately cost a Dutch mayor his job

Another court case in Maastrich-Bulgaria holiday home affair

Municipal top official and shareholder in company at the centre of the dispute wants revision of the final report.

Report investigation abuse of office in Bulgarian holiday home affair to be published on January 9

Maastricht municipal press office said the report from the

Investigation against Dutch mayor over role in Bulgarian real estate row put on hold

An investigation into possible abuse of office and conflict of interest by a Dutch mayor involving real estate in a Bulgarian holiday resort has been put on hold.

Dutch mayor investigated over conflict of interest in Bulgarian construction project

Leers, mayor of the Dutch town of Maastricht, faces investigation after accusations he abused his position in a personal matter, Dutch daily NRC reports.

More in this category

Global food prices ease, but stay high, FAO says

The global food import bill in 2012 could decline to $1.24 trillion, down slightly from last year’s record of $1.29 trillion.

Bulgarian Olympic champion sentenced to nine years' jail in Brazil

Boevski has been under arrest in Brazil since October, when he was arrested at Sao Paulo's international airport with nine kg of cocaine in his luggage.

Bulgarian media tinted by owners' other interests – SEEMO report

Whereas foreign media ownership is perceived as advantageous for media outlets and journalists, Bulgarian owners are perceived as investors with short-term vision who strive for immediate profits.

Prevent violent extremism by being better at identifying people at risk of radicalisation – Malmström

Killing spree in Norway in July 2011 and the arrests of individuals in a number of EU member states for the preparation of terrorist attacks, are proof of the continuing need for vigilance, Europol says.

On annual World Book Day, UN emphasises importance of translation

In her message to mark the Day, Bulgaria's Bokova said that books are 'valuable tools' for knowledge-sharing, mutual understanding and openness to others and to the world.

© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.