Borisov distances himself from the selection of Teodora Georgieva and accuses his political opponents

GERB leader Boyko Borisov made his first statement to the media in the new parliament, reacting sharply to the renewed public disputes surrounding former Bulgarian European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva. The cause of his anger is the new revelations and political commentary regarding the circumstances of her selection.

"Her actions were aimed at compromising GERB. How can they now, having seen that she is compromised, claim that she is 'our person' – when talking about someone who actively, politically, worked against GERB? Kiril Petkov, I am ready to take a lie detector test with him, right here, in these rooms. He told me that she was the person they were using as a bludgeon against us while we were on good terms with Kiril Petkov," Borisov stated.

He categorically denied having any role in Georgieva's selection as a European Prosecutor and insisted that he does not know either the "dwarfs" or the former investigator Petyo Petrov, known as Petyo Euro. "The Prime Minister, when such matters are decided, does not participate at all," Borisov said regarding the procedure for selecting Bulgaria's European Prosecutor and called on then-Minister of Justice Danail Kirilov to say whether he knows anything more about the case.

Almost immediately after Borisov's statement, the acting caretaker Minister of Justice, Andrey Yankulov, commented on the topic. He reminded that the very procedure for appointing a European Prosecutor from any member state implies significant involvement of national governments. "The final choice is politically responsible – it is made by a political body, assisted by independent experts, but this body is not absolutely bound by their opinion," Yankulov wrote in a Facebook post, adding that "denying this role or, conversely, attributing some supernatural significance to it would simply be unacceptable."

According to him, "the main question cannot be whether the government had any involvement in the appointment of the European Prosecutor from Bulgaria, because the answer is more than obvious, but whether there is a connection, and if so – what kind, between 'Petyo Euro' and the government's behavior."

The publication "Capital" reported that it possesses documents from the procedure for the selection of Teodora Georgieva. According to these data, on June 2, 2020, the then-Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the EU, Dimitar Tsanchev, sent a letter on behalf of the Bulgarian government to the Secretary-General of the Council of the EU, Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen. In the letter, expressing the cabinet's will, Tsanchev points out that the first-ranked candidate for European Prosecutor, Desislava Pironeva, had become Deputy Prosecutor General, and Bulgaria believes that Teodora Georgieva, who was third, should be moved to first place.

Desislava Pironeva, Svetlana Shopova-Koleeva, and Teodora Georgieva reached the final stage of the procedure. In a conversation with "Capital," the then-Minister of Justice, Danail Kirilov, categorically denies that any favorable treatment was shown toward a specific candidate, as claimed by Laura Kövesi. "After the national selection, I sent three names to the selection committee along with a letter from the Ministry of Justice. In Bulgaria, there is no ranking: the selection committee picked three people, we sent them to Brussels, and then they were evaluated there. Georgieva's selection happened after the other two prosecutors – Pironeva and Shopova – resigned themselves. Ms. Pironeva became Deputy Prosecutor General, and Shopova received some high-level appointment in Bulgaria – I don't remember what, but she even wanted to resign from the ministry, and we told her that we were not accepting resignations," explains Kirilov. Shopova herself stated to "Capital" that she had not resigned.

Following the publication of the article in "Capital," Bozhidar Bozhanov from "Democratic Bulgaria" announced to journalists that the official correspondence of Bulgaria with European institutions regarding the preference for Teodora Georgieva over other candidates for the position of European Prosecutor is now known. "This confirms the backstage connection between Petyo Euro's tavern and the Bulgarian government led by Boyko Borisov and Minister of Justice Danail Kirilov, who allowed himself to lie about what happened then," Bozhanov stated. He called on the government to organize a hearing in parliament to establish the facts, in which Borisov, Georgieva, prosecutor Emiliya Rusinova, Danail Kirilov, as well as our representative in Brussels at the time, Dimitar Tsanchev, should participate.

Borisov's complaints and the security detail topic

In his statement, Borisov also commented on the release of his security guards by the new government. He insisted that his guards were by no means "excessive" and explained in detail why – by recalling his consistent support for Israel both in the past and now, as well as his positions regarding Ukraine.

Furthermore, he recalled that a previous GERB government had given permission for American military tankers to use Bulgarian civil airports for their operations. When asked by a journalist if this meant that these planes were not used for NATO exercises, as the GERB Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov had claimed, Borisov replied enigmatically: "Apparently, since Secretary of State Rubio thanked Bulgaria and Romania for their support, it means there was something to thank us for."

As his personal contribution, for which he was awarded a medal, Borisov also pointed to the military missiles provided to Ukraine. "Kiril Petkov was afraid. Peevski came and said – let's give the missiles, because if we are partners, let us be partners," Borisov recounted, not failing to praise the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski.