Bulgarian prosecutors have charged an official from a non-governmental organization with spying for Russia for allegedly supplying information that aimed to turn the Balkan country away from its pro-Western orientation.
Nikolay Malinov, chairman of the National Russophile Movement, has been charged “with putting himself in the service of foreign organizations to work for them as a spy.”
If found guilty, Malinov could face 15 years in prison. He was released on bail but is barred from leaving the country.
In a surprising development Judge Andon Mitalov, from the Special Criminal Court, allowed Malinov to leave the country in the period November 1 to November 5 and travel to Moscow.
The Prosecutor's Office requested the Inspectorate of the Supreme Judicial Council to check and sanction Judge Andon Mitalov.
Nikolay Malinov was one of the foreign nationals, who received the Order of Friendship in the Kremlin by the Russian President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony marking Russia's Day of National Unity.
Will the Bulgarian authorities hear this deafening slap in the face and will they finally do something to minimise Kremlin's influence in Bulgaria?
Political analysis by Plamen Asneov.
