Bulgaria's Ruling Party Denies Affiliation with Notorious Roma 'Tsar'

Kiril Rashkov, known as Tsar Kiro because of his wealth, a notorious Roma clan leader. File photo

Notorious Roma boss Kiril Rashkov, aka "Tsar Kiro", is not a member of the ruling center-right party GERB, the party announced seeking to refute media reports.

Rashkov, the head of a extremely rich Roma clan based in the village of Katunitsa near Bulgaria's Plovdiv, attracted public attention as a result of a row with local ethnic Bulgarians, which resulted in ethnic clashes, after late Friday a group of Roma associated with him ran over a 19-year-old Bulgarian boy in Katunitsa.

Amidst the protests of the locals, who complained Tsar Kiro's clan had been terrorizing him, football hooligans from Plovdiv stormed and torched the Roma boss's properties, while the police evacuated Rashkov's family.

"With respect to the deceitful and manipulative information on the Internet – published in media and online forums – that Kiril Rashkov, aka Tsar Kiro is a member of the GERB political party, we declare that the vigorously put forth piece of "news" is a complete fabrication," the ruling party GERB said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

The GERB statement came after reports by several cable TV channels that quickly hit social networks that Rashkov is a member of the GERB party of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, and that he is also among the persons providing notorious donations to the local police – a controversial practice that led Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov to formally discontinue it several weeks ago.

The reports further claimed that because of his donations to the police Rashkov had a special sticker on his car that allowed him to move undisturbed by the police in the Plovdiv District.

Unlike the GERB party, the Interior Ministry has not denied the donation reports yet.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!