site.btaPresidency Rejects Claims of Bulgarian Spy Suspects’ Links to High-Level Officials as Absurd and Unfounded

Claims made by Bulgarian citizens under investigation for espionage in the UK regarding their alleged connections to the "highest echelons" of power in Bulgaria are entirely unfounded and as absurd as the manipulative attempts to exploit them, the presidential press secretariat said here on Friday.

The press secretariat noted that Bulgarian security services, working closely with their British counterparts, had publicly stated just a month ago—in response to media inquiries and a parliamentary question—that they had no information confirming any links between those investigated for espionage in the UK and Bulgarian politicians.

The statement was provided in response to questions regarding an article in The Independent, which highlighted an exchange of remarks between the prosecution and the accused in the espionage case.

The British Crown Prosecution Service has charged six Bulgarian nationals with involvement in an alleged Russian spy network operating between August 2020 and February 2023. The suspects, who lived in London and Norfolk, were arrested in February 2023 by the counter-terrorism unit of the London police. The trial involving the six Bulgarian nationals is currently underway.