GERB accused “Democratic Bulgaria“ of political propaganda and stated that it will not allow the party to be involved in a media campaign based on suggestions instead of facts, Dariknews.bg informs. The reason for the reaction was the announcement by the Bulgarian Democratic Party (DB) that they had received a response from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC) in connection with a document published by BIRD related to the sanctions under the “Magnitsky“ Act.
“We have always shared the position and have helped to clarify the objective truth! We know it! But again we are seeing a well-known scenario – a procedural document is taken, sentences are extracted and waved incorrectly in the public space“, GERB wrote on Facebook.
The party emphasizes that this is a procedural document, not a court decision.
“Let's be correct – a procedural document has been published, not a court decision. "Attempts to present individual sentences as the final truth are political propaganda, not legal analysis," GERB stated.
According to them, the OFAC response only makes it clear that the American service is defending the US administration's decision to impose sanctions.
The reaction comes after "Democratic Bulgaria" previously announced that they had sent a request to OFAC in connection with a document published by BIRD, according to which the service considers it established that businessman Vasil Bozhkov admitted that he had made payments to former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov in exchange for favorable treatment of his business. According to the document, the described behavior is considered bribery for the purposes of the applicable sanctions regime.
The State Department asked OFAC to clarify whether it considers it established that Bozhkov bribed Borisov, as well as why Vladislav Goranov was sanctioned under the global “Magnitsky“ law, while no similar public measure was imposed on Borisov. The coalition also asked the acting Prosecutor General Vanya Stefanova and the State Security Service of Bulgaria, demanding that the new information be verified and, if necessary, the relevant proceedings be resumed or initiated.