Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the UK: The Embassy was Not Informed about the Detention of our Citizens

Diplomacy | August 15, 2023, Tuesday // 16:20| views

H.E. Marin Raykov

"Unpleasant as it is, we learned of the detention of these three citizens by the BBC. My hypothesis is that this is mainly due to the reluctance of the detainees themselves to inform Bulgarian citizens, including the embassy". This is what the ambassador of Bulgaria in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Marin Raykov, told Nova TV.

Earlier today, the BBC reported that three Bulgarian citizens were detained in Great Britain on suspicion of espionage for Russia.

"The only thing I can say is that, we have in the database the woman - Katrin Ivanova. She appears as a member of the election commission in 2021," said Raykov. She member of the electoral commission during the penultimate parliamentary elections, but not as a representative of the state, but as nominated by a political party.

During another inspection of the Bulgarian in Great Britain, it was established that one of the men - Jambazov - was also in the election commission as chairman.

The three were detained back in February and have been under arrest since then. They have been accused of working for the Russian security services.

According to BNT, the investigation began a year ago and the three were placed under surveillance. After searches of their home, an investigation established that the only real personal documents found in their possession were the Bulgarian IDs, all the others were fake. There are reports that some of the fake documents were produced in Spain, but evidence is being gathered along these lines. There is no evidence that the three have come back to Bulgaria in the last 12 months.