Following a two-hour search operation, police took the leader of the biggest opposition party and former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to the General Directorate National Police and are holding him in custody for 24 hours.
“No charges have been brought and no charges can be brought because by Bulgarian law, charges can only be pressed by written authorization of a prosecutor,” explained lawyer Menko Menkov after meeting with former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. In his words, the grounds for detention are extortion, “though it doesn’t say who has been extorted by Mr. Borissov, when they were extorted, for what or how.”
A large-scale operation of the General Directorate National Police is underway in connection with 120 cases of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bulgaria, the press office of the Ministry of Interior announced. Searches and seizures are being carried out at many locations in Bulgaria.
According to the police, at the moment, besides Boyko Borissov, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and the former head of the government information service Sevdalina Arnaudova have also been detained. Even though initially the Interior Ministry announcement included the name of Menda Stoyanova as being among the persons detained, the former chair of the parliamentary budget committee denied being among the detainees.
“Nobody is above the law!”, Premier Kiril Petkov wrote on Facebook.
Representatives of GERB’s youth organization, MPs and the leadership of GERB party gathered in front of Boyko Borissov’s home and called the operation “political repression”.
“Bulgaria's Prosecutor's Office has not been notified about the investigation of political figures", the Spokeswoman of the Prosecutor General’s Office Siyka Mileva said for bTV. In her words, more information should be sought from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
On Thursday, 17 March, Bulgaria’s Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov held a working meeting with European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi to discuss Bulgaria’s work on establishing a team of investigators in the Ministry of Interior to cooperate on cases of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
If there is no parliamentary group of the ''Morality, Unity, Honor'' party (MECH) on March 26, we will start blockades, said MECH leader Radostin Vassilev at a press conference. He demanded the resignation of National Assembly Speaker Natalia..
Another major infrastructure project in Bulgaria is moving forward. The technical project for the construction of the tunnel under Mount Shipka will be ready this year. If approved, the construction of the facility will begin as early as 2025,..
Nearly half of Bulgarians prefer the cabinet to continue governing over the alternative of new elections. However, the majority does not believe that Rosen Zhelyazkov’s cabinet will complete a full term, indicates data of a representative survey..
Bulgaria has improved its rating in the World Happiness Report , but remains 85 th out of 147 countries, which is the lowest position for an EU..
The importance of eurozone membership for Bulgaria was the focus of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov's meeting with European Central Bank President..
Bulgaria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev had a phone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar. Israel’s Foreign Minister..
Clear