Bulgarian PM Slams Incriminating Tageszeitung Story as 'Idiotic'

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov meeting a nun at a recent opening of a new road in the city of Burgas. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov has finally spoken out against recent publications linking his past activities to the mafia, labelling them as "lies and idiocies."

End of May large-circulation German paper Tageszeitung came out with a story claiming that US diplomatic cables linking Borisov with organized crime, as published by Wikileaks, have CIA research as their basis.

This led to a group of Bulgarian journalists from the Bivol.bg investigative site to refer Borisov's case to the European Parliament's new anti-mafia committee, the so-called CRIM.

In an extensive interview for the Bulgarian Biograph magazine, the PM has for the first time commented on the accusations, as in the past days he simply ignored the rare journalistic questions regarding the matter.

"Recently some or another German edition published a material against me full of lies and idiocies. Part of the media in Bulgaria distorted it to the effect that the CIA allegedly stood behind that text," says Borisov in the interview.

"And all that happened while the CIA's head was my personal guest! That guy's attitude is clear - he was here for three days in a friendly atmosphere in Sofia to rest and take a break," adds Borisov.

The Bulgarian PM further alleges that he and CIA director David Petraeus jointly wrote the US embassy in Sofia's statement following Petraeus's visit to Sofia.

The CIA director was on an unannounced visit to Sofia June 5-7, calling for stronger intelligence partnership between the USA and Bulgaria.

The rest of the Biograph interview is taken up by Borisov's self-congratulating assessment of his work as Bulgaria's PM since the summer of 2009, as well as by new insights in his solitary and somewhat sad personal life.

As in a previous cover story in the Love Style magazine, Borisov confesses that as a PM he does not have the emotional and time resources to lead a fully devoted relationship, and that any revealing of the identity of his present girlfriend would bring her a lot of trouble from public attention and gossip.