Jurgen Roth: PM Borisov Failure to Spell Doom for Bulgaria, Europe

Domestic | November 21, 2010, Sunday // 20:27|  views

"Please, don't kill my hope for Bulgaria because if nothing changes, this will lead in its wake a political catastrophe for Bulgaria and Europe," Jurgen Roth said in an extensive interview for Sofia-based K2 radio. Photo by BGNES

German top investigative journalist Jurgen Roth has voiced grave fears about the scenario that might unfold in Bulgaria and Europe, should the current center-right government of Boyko Borisov fail.

"Please, don't kill my hope for Bulgaria because if nothing changes, this will lead in its wake a political catastrophe for Bulgaria and Europe," Jurgen Roth said in an extensive interview for Sofia-based K2 radio.

Roth conceded that Borisov is haunted by "the shadows of his past", but expressed hopes that he has severed those ties.

"I believe him not because he was elected prime minister, but because he really put in big efforts to combat the crime structures, who support the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms. It is enough to read the European Commission reports on Bulgaria's progress in his field. The GERB party has not political alternative, Boyko Borisov has no political alternative."

Roth explained that a mistake of the translator has led him to believe that the interior minister is convinced that Nikola Filchev, Bulgaria's controversial and erratic former senior prosecutor, has masterminded the mysterious murders of a lawyer and a prosecutor back in 2000 and 2003.

"Later it turned out that Tsvetan Tsvetanov referred to the testimonies of the prosecutor's widow and Sugarev. Still it turned out that Tsvetanov considers this testimonies to be highly reliable and that they speak his own mind as well," the German journalist said.

"Tsvetanov told me, citing the words of Kolev's widow and Sugarev, that the murder was ordered by Nukola Filchev and committed by Aleksei Petrov and his men," Roth said.

He explained that the investigation into Filchev's activities are part of the government's crack-down on organized crime in Bulgaria, in which Aleksei Petrov, a controversial businessman, ex-secret agent and alleged crime boss "plays a very important role."

Earlier this month, speaking at a press conference in Sofia, where he presented the Bulgarian edition of his new book "Gangsterwirtschaft" ("Gangster Economy"), Jurgen Roth slammed President Georgi Parvanov, Aleksei Petrov and former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov as "the new [Bulgarian] demons".

The event came a month after Roth was cleared of allegations of slander in his book about organized crime in Bulgaria, entitled "Bulgaria's New Demons", by Rumen Petkov.

Since his release under house arrest in early October, Aleksei Petrov aka the Octopus, who is sued for various criminal activities, has lamentably emerged at the center of the Bulgarian political scene with various figures exchanging accusations that they are bound to him.

Petrov went as far as to say that he might run for President in 2011, in a move that might blow up domestic politics.

Asked about the likelihood of this move, Roth said:

"Everyone can have dreams, but we should remain realists. I really doubt that this will happen. What Petrov is doing resembles a political cabaret. What experience does he have as a politician? At least Boyko Borisov served as mayor before being elected prime minister. It is really hard to imagine Aleksei Petrov in the office of the president. This is so unreal, it's not worth discussing."

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Tags: Boyko, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Roth, Boyko Borisov, Petrov, Jurgen Roth, Georgi Parvanov, Aleksei Petrov, Rumen Petkov, Borisov, Jurgen, German

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