Former Prime Minister Pyotr Borisov has been arrested in connection with a corruption case
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boïko Borissov was arrested on Thursday evening on suspicion of embezzling European funds between 2009 and 2021.
Pyko Borisov, November 11, 2021.
AFP
The government announced on Thursday evening that former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boïko Borissov had been arrested on suspicion of embezzling European funds as part of an investigation by the European Attorney’s Office.
“An extensive process is underway in relation to the 120 files of the European Attorney’s Office,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Boïko Borissov, 62, was “detained” and several members of his Conservative party, including former finance minister Vladislav Goranov, were searched. Prime Minister Krill Petkov, who was elected to the Anti-Corruption Program last November, commented on Facebook that “there is no one outside the law.”
The announcement comes after Laura Covey headed to Sofia to head the European Attorney’s Office, a new body in the fight against fraud affecting the EU budget. On Wednesday, he praised Grill Petco’s “determination” to fight past practices in the EU’s most corrupt country.
Laura Covey said the European Attorney’s Office has opened an investigation into fraud cases in the agriculture and construction sectors and the use of post – Govt economic recovery funds.
“That’s why we are here, that’s why we are here,” she insisted. In June 2021, during a previous visit to Bulgaria, he warned that the government would not hesitate to investigate “powerful or wealthy” individuals.
Poyko Borisov, who has been in power since 2009 with almost no interruptions, had to face large-scale protests in the summer of 2020 against the corruption that plagued the country and its alleged links to the oligarchy.
The spring assembly elections of 2021 marked his downfall, before political instability and the reform government led by 41-year-old Harvard-trained businessman Grill Petkov.
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