Euractiv
December 24, 2022

US congressman: Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor threatens stability of NATO

US Congressman Warren Davidson called on the US Treasury Department on Thursday (22 December) to take action against Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev for “corrupt actions” threatening “the stability and security of NATO allies in Europe”, a document obtained by EURACTIV reveals.

Davidson, a Republican congressman and member of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warning that “most of the malign Russian influence is centred in southeastern Europe, including amongst NATO countries such as Bulgaria”, and that “the blatant disregard of US sanctions by the Bulgarian Prosecutor General is unacceptable and must be addressed”.

EURACTIV called the office of Congressman Davidson to verify the authenticity of the letter, which he confirmed in a tweet.

In the letter, Congressman Davidson refers to the EURACTIV article on a Bulgarian court’s ruling that the US Magnitsky act cannot be applied in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria found itself in a difficult situation after a local court ruled that the US Magnitsky Act, which sanctioned three high-profile Bulgarians in June 2021, cannot be applied in the country.

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The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Bulgarians for corruption in Bulgaria, as well as their networks encompassing 64 entities.

The move was part of the largest Global Magnitsky action taken.…

The move was part of the largest Global Magnitsky action taken in a single day, targeting more than 65 individuals and entities for their significant acts of corruption in Bulgaria.

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“The weaponisation of the high office of prosecutors in favour of organised crime and corruption is a serious stability of an important NATO ally, and generally, the Balkan region,” Davidson wrote.

He expressed regrets that “we have seen only escalation in the misconduct of the Bulgarian judiciary” since March 2021, when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a bipartisan statement condemning “persistent corruption, declining media freedom, politization of the judiciary”.

On 4 March 2021, two US senators from the Foreign Affairs Committee issued a landmark joint statement that rampant corruption, lack of media freedom, and the politicization of the judicial system threaten relations between the US and Bulgaria.

The statement was signed by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Senate of the US Congress, Bob Menendez, and Senator Jim Risch.