site.btaMEP Dzhambazki Accuses Dutch Peer of Libel against Bulgarian Border Authorities

Sofia, September 7 (BTA) - Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambazki, Deputy Chairman of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO), has sent a letter to his Dutch counterpart, Kati Piri, of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, asking her to explain why she accused in a report Bulgarian border guards at the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the border with Turkey of corruption, IMRO said Thursday.

Piri, who is a member of the PES Group and the Turkey rapporteur of the European Parliament, wrote on Facebook that Bulgarian border police have intimidated Dutch citizens of Turkish origin. Together with Belgian MEP Kathleen van Brempt, she has put a series of questions to the European Commission and will include all experiences in a report which will be submitted to the Bulgarian government.

According to Dzhambazki, the claim is scandalous. "When someone in Bulgaria says they have been blackmailed, threatened or asked for a bribe by Interior Ministry officers, that person must produce valid evidence to the prosecution and the court," he says, calling on Piri to substantiate her allegations.

Dzhambazki has also informed the leadership of the European Parliament and the European Commission about the allegations. The Bulgarian MEP wrote to EP President Antonio Tajani, EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, EC First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, the Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group Gianni Pittella and PES President Sergei Stanishev that Piri's claims were libellous, offensive and unacceptable, given the efforts of Bulgaria Interior Ministry officers. "Besides guarding the EU's external border between Bulgaria and Turkey, those people also guard the Member States' citizens from illegal migrants and terrorists," Dzhambazki said.