The leadership of the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria carries out its functions in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Judicial System Act, the applicable standards of the European Law and according to the decisions of the personnel body of the judiciary, in strict compliance with the principles of separation of powers, judicial independence and the rule of law.
The biased dissemination of baseless and defamatory allegations not only damages the reputation of individual magistrates but also undermines the authority of the judiciary. Such actions are incompatible with the principles of the rule of law and institutional accountability, which require that any allegation of unlawful conduct be verified by the competent authorities in accordance with the procedure established by law before being used for public and political insinuations.
It is particularly disturbing when such insinuations are spread and legitimized in the public sphere by individuals who claim expertise in the field of justice and who should be aware of both - the standards of responsible public communication and the consequences of spreading unverified claims about the activities of the judiciary.
There is a reasonable impression that these actions constitute an unacceptable attempt to exert unregulated influence on the course of judicial and pre-trial proceedings of high public interest.
In view of the fact that the actions of the Interim Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, in addition to undermining the prestige of the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office, also affect the authority of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, and in order to present the objective truth, the PORB provides information containing the facts and official communication on the case of the Bulgarian representative removed from office and recognized by the College of the European Public Prosecutor's Office "guilty of a serious violation".
At the initiative of the European Chief Prosecutor, Ms. Laura Kövesi, joint actions were carried out with the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office in 2025, including an exchange of written correspondence. At the request of the European Prosecutor's Office, the Acting Prosecutor General and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office sent the requested materials related to the "removed Bulgarian representative" at the European Prosecutor's Office to Ms. Kövesi.
On April 30, 2025, an open letter was sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria from the Permanent Representation of the country to the European institutions in Brussels, accompanied by a letter from the European Chief Prosecutor, Ms. Laura Kövesi, to Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, requesting the provision of written information, including witness statements in ongoing criminal proceedings against the representative of Bulgaria in the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
In the letter, Ms. Laura Kövesi indicates that a file has been opened in the European Public Prosecutor's Office regarding alleged corruption of the Bulgarian European Prosecutor following a report received by the institution from a private individual on 24 October 2023. In view of a publication in a Bulgarian media outlet on 10 March 2025 regarding a "letter and video recording of a conversation between Teodora Georgieva and Petyo The Euro", the European Chief Prosecutor makes an official request to provide "any information relevant to the ongoing criminal investigation of Ms. Georgieva, for the purpose of assessing and monitoring our own investigation, which could be affected".
In response to the letter of the European Chief Prosecutor and after explicit permission from the supervising prosecutor pursuant to Art. 198, para. 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code, on 3 June 2025, Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov sent a response to Ms. Laura Kövesi. The response contains a 5-page report prepared by the supervising prosecutor on pre-trial proceedings initiated on 25 April 2025 at the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office regarding the fact that in the period from the beginning of 2020 to March 2025 on the territory of the country and abroad, under the conditions of an ongoing crime, as a position of an official - a judge in the Administrative Court in Sofia City and a European prosecutor in the European Prosecutor's Office was used to obtain an unlawful benefit - monetary sums - a crime under Art. 283 in conjunction with Art. 26, para. 1 of the Penal Code.
The report contains excerpts from the testimonies of three witnesses interrogated during the investigation, which indicate that "Peppi the Euro" provided the magistrate "Teddy the Euro" with the sum of 10,000 leva monthly.
The PORB provides in separate files the correspondence between the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the office of the Acting Prosecutor General, as well as the report prepared by the supervising prosecutor, for which permission has been granted pursuant to Art. 198, Para. 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria will continue to exercise its constitutional and legal powers in strict compliance with Bulgarian legislation, regardless of political pressure and attempts to discredit the judiciary, and in active institutional cooperation with European institutions.
The leadership of the PORB will inform the European Chief Prosecutor, Ms. Laura Kövesi and the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Mr. Michael McGrath, about the actions taken by the Interim Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, which in practice constitute an attempt to discredit the completed disciplinary procedure of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, 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.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria remains consistently committed to the principles of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the objective establishment of facts. If the Ministry of Justice has materials or evidence in connection with the allegations made, the Prosecutor's Office expects them to be immediately provided with to the competent authorities in order to carry out an inspection in accordance with the procedure established by law.
The allegations that the above-mentioned recordings were distributed by the Prosecutor's Office or the Office of the Prosecutor General are categorically false and defamatory. Such insinuations constitute yet another attempt to involve the Prosecutor's Office in public speculation that has no factual basis.
The leadership of the Prosecutor's Office expresses gratitude to the thousands of Bulgarian prosecutors, investigators, judges and employees in the judicial system, who, despite the increased unlawful political pressure, continue to perform their professional duties with the necessary integrity, honesty and responsibility, without allowing the judiciary to be involved in.
Amid the public legitimization by a representative of the executive branch – the Interim Minister of Justice – of a person who organized and provoked riots in the building of the Palace of Justice in Sofia and called for restrictions on citizens' right to access justice is seriously puzzling. Moreover, these actions, which constitute a gross violation of the legal order and the principles of the rule of law, were carried out immediately after a meeting at the Ministry of Justice between the Interim Minister and that person.
The leadership of the PORB draws the attention of the Interim Minister of Justice that, according to his obligations under the law, he is responsible for ensuring the security of the buildings of the judiciary and for preventing actions that impede the normal functioning of the bodies of the judiciary.
Incoming correspondence from the European Public Prosecutor's Office_ file 1
Outgoing correspondence to the European Public Prosecutor's Office_ file 2