Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Arrested Following EU Investigations – POLITICO

Boyko Borissov, the former prime minister of Bulgaria, was arrested late on Thursday amid a wide-ranging police investigation related to investigations by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the Interior Ministry, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, former chairman of the parliamentary budget committee Menda Stoyanova and Borissov’s media adviser Sevdalina Arnaudova were also arrested, of Bulgaria. Dnevnik newspaper reported.

In a move that risks becoming a major moment for Bulgaria, the ministry said that a large-scale operation is underway regarding 120 potential fraud cases being handled by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. check. The writer herself, Laura Codruța Kövesi, has been visiting Bulgaria in the past days, raising the prospect of action against EU budget abuses in areas such as agriculture, construction and public works – a problem that has plagued Bulgaria for many years.

“No one is above the law,” Prime Minister Kiril Petkov wrote on Facebook fifth page.

Borissov’s lawyer, Menko Menkov, told reporters that the former prime minister “has not been charged at this time. The police conducted a search of his home. He has been taken to the headquarters of the national police, where he will most likely be detained for 24 hours.”

Menkov later said that Borissov’s case involved extortion, rather than abuse of EU funds.

Borissov, who dominated Bulgarian politics for more than a decade, was forced out of power last April amid a rule of law crisis.