Bulgarian "ex-spy envoy" leaves Belgrade

Outgoing Bulgarian Ambassador to Belgrade Georgi Dimitrov stated that he has worked for the intelligence service, but that he was not a spy. Dimitrov made the statement in an interview with the German Radio Deutsche Welle. Bulgarian "ex-spy envoy" leaves Belgrade He is one of 200 Bulgarian diplomats who previously worked for the country's spy agency. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov demands dismissal of 192 diplomats due to their alleged connections with the country's former intelligence services. Namely, in accordance to a law adopted in 2006, a Bulgarian commission went through the archives from the period ranging between September 1944 and July 1991, and the results were presented on December 14 this year. According to the data, out of 462 Bulgarian diplomats, one in two worked for the intelligence. One of them is Georgi Dimitrov, whose regular mandate as ambassador in Belgrade expired yesterday. He does not deny that the report is true. "That was a special department in charge of foreign journalists. That was in 1987, and it is a known fact. However, the allegations that I was spying are false. I was just writing certain analyses," he said. "This has been known for 3 years, and I doubt that people in Serbia were not acquainted with the speculations. However, there was no reaction. On the other hand, my service in Belgrade has yielded results in the domains of politics, economy and cultural cooperation," Dimitrov noted. Among the diplomats mentioned in the report are also the current Bulgarian ambassadors to the UN, Russia, Japan, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Portugal. For now, Bulgarian President Georgi Prvanov is rejecting Bulgarian prime minister's request to sack these diplomats.

Bulgarian "ex-spy envoy" leaves Belgrade

He is one of 200 Bulgarian diplomats who previously worked for the country's spy agency. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov demands dismissal of 192 diplomats due to their alleged connections with the country's former intelligence services.

Namely, in accordance to a law adopted in 2006, a Bulgarian commission went through the archives from the period ranging between September 1944 and July 1991, and the results were presented on December 14 this year. According to the data, out of 462 Bulgarian diplomats, one in two worked for the intelligence.

One of them is Georgi Dimitrov, whose regular mandate as ambassador in Belgrade expired yesterday. He does not deny that the report is true.

"That was a special department in charge of foreign journalists. That was in 1987, and it is a known fact. However, the allegations that I was spying are false. I was just writing certain analyses," he said.

"This has been known for 3 years, and I doubt that people in Serbia were not acquainted with the speculations. However, there was no reaction. On the other hand, my service in Belgrade has yielded results in the domains of politics, economy and cultural cooperation," Dimitrov noted.

Among the diplomats mentioned in the report are also the current Bulgarian ambassadors to the UN, Russia, Japan, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Portugal.

For now, Bulgarian President Georgi Prvanov is rejecting Bulgarian prime minister's request to sack these diplomats.