European Commission (EC) vice-president Guenther Verheugen, in Sofia for a two-day visit, told Bulgarian officials to put more effort into fighting corruption, but said that authorities were not doing as badly as the bad press they have been getting would suggest.

Talking to reporters after meeting Deputy Prime Minister for European Union Funds Meglena Plougchieva, Verheugen said that the rap Bulgaria has been receiving from the EC did not mean that it was the only country with corruption trouble in the EU, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.

Verheugen, who was negotiated Bulgaria's accession to the bloc as enlargement commissioner, said that the issues concerning judiciary reform and the fight against corruption, outlined in an EC report in July, were Bulgaria's old weaknesses. Although real, the problems could be solved with a concerted effort from the entire Bulgarian society, he said.

"The report does not show Bulgaria's place in a ranking of EU member states, because such reports are beind drafted only for Bulgaria and Romania due to the worries from their accession. That does not mean that other countries do not have similar problems. If the EC were to apply the same mechanism to other member states, it would be an interesting picture," website mediapool.bg quoted him as saying.

The German Social-Democrat politician threw his support behind the Cabinet of Socialist Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, taking a swipe against "the vociferous opposition outside", whom he accused of euro-scepticism, BTA reported.

Verheugen met with Plougchieva and Stanishev, but also President Georgi Purvanov, Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov and Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski.