site.btaVazrazhdane to Seek Russian Embassy's Assistance for Bulgarian Facing Extradition from Greece to US

Vazrazhdane will approach the Russian Embassy in Sofia for assistance in the case of Bulgarian Milan Dimitrov who has been held in a Greek prison for two years now and is now facing extradition from Greece to the US, the party's leader Kostadin Kostadinov told journalists in Parliament's lobby on Friday.

"Milan Dimitrov's guilt consists in having had business relations with Russia and probably of holding Russian citizenship because his mother is Russian," the Vazrazhdane leader commented.

He argued that the charges date from 2014 and the statute of limitation under US law expired in 2019, but the Bulgarian State is doing nothing about it.

In December 2022, M.D., who also claims to be a Russian citizen, was arrested in Sidirokastro, Serres, following the issuance of a red warrant by US Interpol in 2021 and a Texas court arrest warrant,  the ANA-MPA News Agency reported on July 24.

Texas judicial authorities are seeking him to be tried for crimes of conspiracy to violate the international law on financial powers of emergency, false declaration and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the agency specified.

In February 2023 the Bulgarian was released on EUR 5,000 bail, on the condition that he does not leave the country and regularly reports to the police station, the ANA-MPA reported early last year. 

Dimitrov and his father Dimitar were accused of obtaining radiation-resistant chips from a company in Texas and sending them to Russia via Bulgaria.  Both were accused of violating export control and money laundering rules. Milan is also charged with providing false information to a US government official. Milan Dimitrov denied the accusations. The chips, which were specially made to withstand the effects of radiation and extreme temperatures, are critical components in the production of missiles and military satellites, said Reuters.

The Hellenic Council of State (the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece) ratified a decision of the Deputy Minister of Justice on the extradition to the US of M.D., a Bulgarian citizen wanted for smuggling, specifically for exporting goods from America to Russia via Bulgaria, despite the embargo imposed against Russia, ANA-MPA reported on July 24.

"We held meetings with the Bulgarian institutions, with three governments, including incumbent Prime Minister Glavchev, and solicited his cooperation," Kostadinov added. Speaking at the same news briefing, Dimitrov's brother, Alexander Dimitrov, said that his brother is held in "inhuman conditions" in the Greek prison. He accused the Bulgarian State and institutions of inaction. "Nobody helped us in any way whatsoever," Dimitrov added.

"It is not very easy to make an impact, all the more so that Bulgaria is isolated from the case," Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said, addressing Parliament later in the day. "He [Dimitrov] was arrested abroad, and the communication is between the government and competent judicial authorities of the US and Greece," he explained.

"Bulgaria does not have many options. Whatever is within the power of the Bulgarian State will be done," he assured the lawmakers.

Glavchev informed the MPs that Counsellor Nikolay Karaivanov from Bulgaria's Consulate General in Thessaloniki held a meeting with Dimitrov at the prison in the Greek city on July 29. The consul and the detained Bulgarian citizen discussed the latter's health status, the conditions of imprisonment, and the decision of the Council of State on his extradition to the US. Dimitrov said he had been promptly informed by his lawyers that the extradition had been confirmed by the country's highest court. He voiced his disappointment with this decision and with the equity of the Greek system of administration of justice. He did not level any accusations and criticism at the Bulgarian authorities and the diplomatic missions in Greece about this negative development. Dimitrov had been briefed in detail by his lawyers about the follow-up steps and was optimistic that the European Court of Human Rights will block his surrender to the US authorities. Dimitrov told Karaivanov that he was in good health condition, and this was confirmed by the way he looked. He did not have any serious health complaints and received adequate attention from the prison infirmary, including regular supplies of distilled water for his sleep apnea machine.