It is unacceptable that the Russian Federation takes steps to search for journalists and the Bulgarian state should remain firm in its stance against this practice.
That’s what he said the wanted man Bulgarian citizen and former “Belingkat” journalist Hristo Grozevwhich was heard via online conference call from Security Service Control Commissionthe application and use of special intelligence tools and access to data under the Electronic Communications Act in the National Assembly.
Since the end of December, when he was declared wanted, the Bulgarian has communicated only with DANS about the case, he specified at the request of the chairman of the GERB PG Desislava Atanasova.
At the moment, Hristo Grozev still has no information on why he is wanted. “The only information is from the business media “RIA Novosti” from their source in the services, which they quote, that it is due to a violation of the law against false information about the army. I cannot claim that this is so, but this is what that was written,” Grozev said. But he still guessed: perhaps it was his latest investigation of him, revealing a secret department of the Russian Defense Ministry responsible for the route of missiles used by the Russian army in the war in Ukraine.
“This case surpasses my personal interest, because for the first time a citizen of the European Union is being prosecuted under a law intended for Russian citizens. This is legal nonsense, a legal accident. By this logic, any journalist who deals with the war might be Grozev wanted to add.
He did not specify which country he was in at the moment, but stressed that the services there are taking care of his and his family’s safety. And he continued: “Yes, I feel threatened (to go back to Bulgaria). If I go back, precisely because our investigations show a significant infiltration of Russian intelligence agents into Bulgaria, if I go for a walk in Plovdiv or by the sea, there will be a real risk for me and my family. “
The services had a lot of information about Russian actions in our country, but they did not share it with partner services in the West. In addition, there was cash flow data to public figures touting the Kremlin’s position.
“One of the information channels passes through the Macedonian journalist Darko Todorovic, who presents himself as an expert on Ukrainian and Russian topics. Find out which press outlets in our country publish it and you will be able to answer the question,” instructed Grozev.
Hundreds or thousands. According to Grozev, there are so many latent agents of Moscow in our country. “Due to the rather lax attitude towards issuing visas to people buying property, we have allowed a rather large migration of latent agents of influence of the Russian special services. This should not be underestimated.”
Recruiting collaborators nationwide was also easy. “Due to the Russophilia of a large part of the population, it is much easier to find helpers, but on the other hand, the easy corruption of individuals in Bulgaria and the relatively low standard of living allow Russia to allocate a significant budget, significant for us , but insignificant to them, for such a purpose.”
When questioned by “Vazrazhdane”, Grozev denied working for foreign intelligence, as speculations appeared in the media space. He had no other citizenship, apart from the Bulgarian one.
Grozev also called on Bulgaria to take a Europe-wide initiative by offering protection to all journalists, including Russian ones, investigating the regime’s actions in the Kremlin.
According to information from the Russian state agency ‘RIA Novosti’, Grozev violated the law on wartime disinformation. Something, however, not officially confirmed by any institution. According to the Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanovawhich was summoned for clarification according to the case of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bulgarian citizen was declared wanted only on the territory of the Russian Federation, as Moscow didn’t want to look for him outside the border. He said he did not know what the charge against her was and recommended that the Ministry of Internal Affairs look for her through official channels.
