The signal that the dismissed Bulgarian European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva sent a week ago to the acting Minister of Justice Andrey Yankulov is nearly ten pages long.
This was learned by „Epicenter“ from reliable sources in the Ministry of Justice.
On Friday, with a special press release, the Ministry of Justice distributed retold passages from Georgieva's allegations.
Yesterday, the prosecutor's office announced that Minister Yankulov had undermined the prestige of the judiciary by spreading allegations without even verifying them.
From the Bulgarian The State Prosecution also presented written correspondence between Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov and European Prosecutor General Laura Kövesi. They emphasized that with the actions of Andrey Yankulov - the dissemination of the so-called “signal“ of Teodora Georgieva, an “attempt to discredit the completed disciplinary procedure of the European Public Prosecutor's Office” was made, which confirmed the seriousness of the established violations by the Bulgarian representative in the institution - a fact without precedent in the 19-year period of the Republic of Bulgaria's membership in the European Union“.
It turns out that the official Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice has “saved“ important details from Georgieva's report, which make it clear that the dismissed Bulgarian prosecutor accused two of her subordinates - delegated prosecutors Dimitar Belichev and Mihaela Raidovska, of “supporting a defamatory campaign“ against her.
It seems that Teodora Georgieva was unhappy with the fact that the two prosecutors participated in the procedure for selecting a new Bulgarian European Prosecutor, who should take office with the new mandate of the European Chief Prosecutor at the end of the year.
Sources of “Epicenter“ from the Ministry of Justice claim that in the “report“ to the acting Minister Georgieva indicated that Belichev and Raidovska “were now candidates for my position“.
It seems that the one who was removed a year ago from the position of Bulgaria's representative in the European Public Prosecutor's Office continues to believe that her post - arranged, according to video footage of her meeting in early 2020 with the broker in the judicial system Petyo Petrov-“Euro“, is rightfully hers for some unknown reason.
Teodora Georgieva's attempt to discredit the two candidates for a new mandate as Bulgarian representative in Luxembourg is hardly accidental, in view of the statement made by Andrey Yankulov that as acting Minister of Justice he will try to review the ranking made by a special commission. It is Belichev and Raidovska who are among the candidates for a new European magistrate from Bulgaria.
In case Yankulov attacks the results of the national procedure, this will strengthen the suspicions that an attempt is being made to arrange a mandate in Luxembourg for a magistrate convenient for the political wing of the PP–DB in the judiciary - the Union of Judges in Bulgaria.
Since her return at the end of last week, at her request and after the order of two acting ministers - of justice Andrey Yankulov and of interior Emil Dechev, Teodora Georgieva has been using security from the General Directorate “Security“ and the police.
The reason, according to Georgieva herself - a threat made against her.
However, it turns out that the story of the threat resembles a scheme of “a hoax“. Last summer, while she was in a hotel in France, Georgieva received an anonymous phone call from a man who spoke English, with an accent. The man introduced himself as an employee of the International Court of Justice and informed her that she would soon be arrested. He did not want to give his name, but asked for the ID card number of the Bulgarian European Prosecutor in Luxembourg, which she dictated to him. He promised her that he would find out everything after she was arrested. Something that has not happened to this day, however.
Although the call was from a “hidden“ number, Teodora Georgieva claims that she keeps the call on her work phone. She herself has not specified the reason for her stay in France during a period in which she had already been suspended from the European Prosecutor's Office and, accordingly, was not receiving remuneration.
On 25 February, the College of European Prosecutors adopted a decision finding the Bulgarian European Prosecutor “guilty of a serious breach“. The College postponed its decision on the appropriate sanction, as given the seriousness of the breaches found and the high level of responsibility of the function of European Prosecutor, it cannot be excluded that the sanction could be the dismissal of the European Prosecutor.
“The European Chief Prosecutor shall therefore inform the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission of the decision of the College of European Prosecutors, as well as of the opinion of the Disciplinary Board in the disciplinary proceedings against the Bulgarian European Prosecutor.
In accordance with the Regulation on the European Public Prosecutor, only the Court of Justice of the European Communities may dismiss a European Prosecutor for serious breach – at the request of the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission.
For this reason, before deciding to apply a lighter sanction, the European Public Prosecutor's Office must put these institutions in a position to decide whether they consider it appropriate to request the dismissal of the European Prosecutor in question“, Laura Kövesi's office informed two weeks ago.
They added that Teodora Georgieva “remains temporarily suspended from office until the competent institutions take a final decision, with her remuneration being withheld in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Staff Regulations“.