From Politico.eu, May 17:
Rule of law crisis bursts into the open in a wild public confrontation between chief prosecutor and ex-PM Boyko Borissov.
Netflix, eat your heart out.
Bulgaria’s latest political crisis hinges on a roadside bomb, an Israeli munitions expert and Godfather-style death threats. The lead characters are thuggish Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev, nicknamed “The Cap,” and (equally thuggish) former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, nicknamed “The Pumpkin.”
Confused? No worries, everyone is. But it’s undoubtedly a crux moment for rule of law in Bulgaria and efforts to turn the Balkan country of 7 million people into a fully-fledged democracy, so POLITICO will attempt to unpick the wild twists and turns of the high drama since May 1, when Geshev claims someone attempted to blow up his bullet-proof SUV as it passed a bend on a country road.
At the heart of the crisis lies the all-important role of chief prosecutor. Geshev has long been identified by anti-corruption and pro-democracy activists as one of the biggest obstacles to Bulgaria’s convergence with EU norms. (He is dubbed “The Cap” because of his trademark headwear.) Over the summer of 2020, he was one of the main targets of massive anti-mafia street protests, where demonstrators unsuccessfully demanded his resignation.
Bulgaria’s politically-protected mafia is ubiquitous and its interests include narcotics, arms, people smuggling and siphoning off EU funds. To the protesters, Bulgaria’s overmighty prosecutors lie at the heart of the mafia structure, always ensuring that no big fish are ever brought to justice in the captured state....
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