From 2011 to 2023, Russian intelligence services actively conducted sabotage operations on Bulgarian soil, despite statements by local authorities about potential Kremlin threats. Despite these circumstances, the Bulgarian prosecution continues to maintain friendly relations with Russia, as reported by BIRD.
According to journalists' observations, the Bulgarian prosecution was established on a Soviet model and has not changed its approach even after the country's accession to NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. In 2008, Bulgaria's Attorney General Boris Velchev signed a cooperation agreement with his Russian counterpart Yuri Chaika.
According to BIRD, in 2014, agents of Russian GRU Unit 29155 began using Bulgaria actively as a base for operations in the Balkans, including an alleged sabotage case at the Sopot military factory, an assassination attempt on three Bulgarian citizens using "Novichok," and an explosion at a range where US military exercises were conducted. Some materials and evidence were lost in a fire at a secured Ministry of Interior warehouse in Sofia.
In 2017, the Bulgarian parliament recognized Russia as a threat to national security. In response, Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika made an official visit to Bulgaria, where he met with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Bulgarian Patriarch. Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov stated the need to consider Russia as a friend despite the authorities' official positions on its threat.
Tsatsarov and Chaika signed a new cooperation agreement, including a program to train Bulgarian law enforcement officers at the Russian Prosecutor General's University.
Initially, the Bulgarian prosecution refused to disclose information about internships of its employees in Russia, but under public pressure, it revealed the names of employees who underwent training in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
In 2019, Ivan Geshev became the head of the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office and continued the policy of not disclosing ties with Russia, as evidenced by his appearance at official events in the USA wearing a Poljot "Peter the Great" watch in early 2023.
Despite the conducted sabotage operations and accusations of espionage in favor of Russia, none of the cases resulted in a guilty verdict, which may be explained by Russia's influence on internal processes in Bulgaria.
