Three Bulgarians Suspected of Spying for Russia Charged in UK

THE GUARDIAN: Trio detained in February after counter-terrorism investigation are accused of working for Moscow’s security services, BBC reports

(From left) Orlin Roussev, Katrin Ivanova and Bizer Dzhambazov. Composite: BBC/Facebook/LinkedIn
Three Bulgarian nationals suspected of spying for Russia while living in the UK have been arrested and charged, police have said.

The defendants were among five people detained in February following a long-running counter-terrorism investigation. Three of those were then charged with possession of false identity documents with improper intention, the Metropolitan police – which is responsible for espionage cases – said in a statement.

The BBC reported that they are accused of working for Russia’s security services, as part of what appears to be an undercover cell. They reportedly held passports and identity cards from Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece and the Czech Republic.

The defendants – arrested under the Official Secrets Act by counter-terrorism police – knew the documents were forged and had them with “improper intention”, it is alleged.

The three alleged spies are Orlin Roussev, 45, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk; Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, of Harrow, north-west London, and Katrin Ivanova, 31, of the same Harrow address.

The trio had lived in the UK for years, working in a variety of jobs, and living in a series of suburban properties, the BBC reported. » | Luke Harding and Matthew Weaver | Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Three suspected Russian spies arrested by counter-terror police: The trio, all Bulgarian nationals and said to have lived in the UK for years, have been charged with identity offences »

Beyond the Wall: Part 1 - The Rise of Germany's Far Right; Part 2: From Germany to Bulgaria, What Happened to Hope? | People & Power

Bulgaria Bans the Burqa

David Menzies says "Bravo" to Bulgaria for taking a stand against rising tide of Islamism by joining a growing number of European countries in banning the burqa.

Bulgaria Bus Attack: Berlin Wants Hezbollah On EU Terrorist Group List
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The German Interior and Foreign ministries want Lebanon's Hezbollah movement to be placed on the EU's list of terrorist groups if suspicions are confirmed that the organization was behind the bus bombing in Bulgaria last year in which five Israeli tourists were killed.


The German government wants to push for Lebanon's Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah to be added to the list of European Union terrorist organizations. After talks with representatives of the American Jewish Committee and security experts, German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said he favored banning the group in Europe. » | SPIEGEL | Friday, March 29, 2013

Bulgaria Regrets Failing to Save Thousands of Jews in WWII

BBC: Bulgaria has expressed regret that more than 11,000 Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps from areas under Bulgarian control during World War II.

A Bulgarian parliament declaration did however praise Bulgarians for having blocked the deportation of more than 48,000 Jews during the war.

It said it could "not be disputed that 11,343 Jews were deported from northern Greece and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia".

Most Jews sent to the Nazi German death camps in Poland died.

Referring to the 11,343 deported, the MPs' declaration said "we denounce this criminal act, undertaken by Hitler's command, and express our regrets for the fact that the local Bulgarian administration had not been in a position to stop this act".

Only a few hundred of those deportees survived, Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Centre says.

Yad Vashem lists 20 Bulgarians among its "Righteous Among the Nations" - individuals who acted to protect Jews from the Holocaust.

Bulgaria was an ally of Nazi Germany during the war, when Jews were deported en masse from the Nazi-occupied Balkans to death camps such as Auschwitz. » | Friday, March 08, 2013

Immigration: Romanian or Bulgarian? You Won't Like It Here
THE GUARDIAN: Ministers consider launching negative ad campaign in two countries to persuade potential immigrants to stay away from UK

Please don't come to Britain – it rains and the jobs are scarce and low-paid. Ministers are considering launching a negative advertising campaign in Bulgaria and Romania to persuade potential immigrants to stay away from the UK.

The plan, which would focus on the downsides of British life, is one of a range of potential measures to stem immigration to Britain next year when curbs imposed on both country's citizens living and working in the UK will expire.

A report over the weekend quoted one minister saying that such a negative advert would "correct the impression that the streets here are paved with gold".

There was no word on how any advert might look or whether it would use the strategy of making Britain look as horrible as possible or try to encourage would-be migrants to wake up to the joys of their own countries whether Romania's Carpathian mountains or Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts. With governments around the world spending millions on hiring London-based consultants to undertake "reputation laundering" there would be a peculiar irony if Britain chose to trash its own image perhaps by highlighting winter flooding of homes or the carnage of a Saturday night A&E ward.

There are precedents. In 2007, Eurostar ran adverts in Belgium for its trains to London depicting a tattooed skinhead urinating into a china teacup. It remains unknown if any discussions have taken place over personalities who could carry off a similar exercise in anti-nation branding. » | Rajeev Syal | Sunday, January 27, 2013

My comment:

Showing videos of Muslim vigilantes in Whitechapel should probably be enough to frighten them away. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Israel Blames Iran for Bulgaria Bus Bombing
Iran's foreign minister has rejected claims by Israel that his country is behind a suicide attack in Bulgaria. That is according to state run media. Wednesday's bombing killed seven people on a tourist bus, including five Israelis. Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan reports from Jerusalem.

Smoking Ban Splits Bulgarian Public
SOUTHEAST EUROPE TIMES.COM: A new law adopted by parliament in mid-May, extending Bulgaria's smoking ban to all indoor and some outdoor public areas, took effect on June 1st against the backdrop of a lingering war of words between the measure's opponents and supporters.

The move comes seven years after smoking was first disallowed in government buildings, schools, kindergartens, airports, public transport and taxis in Bulgaria.

Smoking is now also fully prohibited in cinemas, playgrounds, school courtyards, at open air events as well as restaurants, bars and cafes -- where, over the past seven years -- such facilities had to create separate sections for smokers in order to stay in business.

Patrons who wish to light up in between meals or drinks must now go outside or risk being fined 150 to 250 euros. Fines for owners -- or managers -- range from 2,500 euros for a first offence up to 5,000 euros for a repeat violation.

Nearly half of the 7.4 million Bulgarians smoke regularly, making the country the second heaviest-smoking nation within the EU after Greece. » | Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times in Sofia | Saturday, June 16, 2012

Holocaust Survivor on Memorial Day: 'I'm Sad for What We've Lost'
Ros Dayan describes her experience of the Nazis' persecution of Jews in Bulgaria and how she survived the Holocaust. Now living in Israel, she says she doesn't have enough money to buy food or clothes.

Ros is one of a growing proportion of Holocaust survivors in Israel who cannot make ends meet

Related »

Aliens 'Already Exist on Earth', Bulgarian Scientists Claim
THE TELEGRAPH: Aliens from outer space are already among us on earth, say Bulgarian government scientists who claim they are already in contact with extraterrestrial life.

"Aliens are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time," Mr Filipov told Bulgarian media. Image: The Telegraph
Work on deciphering a complex set of symbols sent to them is underway, scientists from the country's Space Research Institute said.

They claim aliens are currently answering 30 questions posed to them.

Lachezar Filipov, deputy director of the Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, confirmed the research.

He said the centre's researchers were analysing 150 crop circles from around the world, which they believe answer the questions.

"Aliens are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time," Mr Filipov told Bulgarian media.

"They are not hostile towards us, rather, they want to help us but we have not grown enough in order to establish direct contact with them."

Mr Filipov said that even the seat of the Catholic church, the Vatican, had agreed that aliens existed. >>> | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Switzerland to Vote on Opening Borders Amid Racially-charged Campaign
Image courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: Swiss voters are to decide this weekend whether to open the country's borders to Romania and Bulgaria amid a racially-charged political debate.

Posters showing sinister black crows pecking away at a map of Switzerland have added controversy to Sunday's referendum on whether to extend the country's free movement agreement with European Union.

The stark imagery has been used by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, or Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP), in a repeat of the controversial racial imagery that made it Switzerland's largest political grouping during elections last year.

The latest SVP poster echoes its Oct 2008 campaign image which played on popular resentment of immigrants by showing a group of white sheep kicking a black sheep off a Swiss flag.

Alain Hauert, spokesman for the SVP, admitted that the black crow poster, captioned "Free passports for all? No", did aim to target popular fears of being swamped by mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria, the EU's poorest countries.

"The enlargement of free movement to Romania and Bulgaria is a threat. Our unemployment is rising and our social insurance is under pressure.

Wages in Romania and Bulgaria are 15 times lower than here. Big companies will look for cheap labour from Romanians and Bulgarians and this is a real threat," he said.

Mr Hauert insisted that the black crows also represented Germany, Switzerland's big EU neighbour and Berlin's pressure on secretive Swiss banks to reveal the names of account holders to German tax inspectors.

"Germany is placing huge pressure on Swiss banks to give up personal data. That is a big problem for our country that the crows represent too," he said. "It has nothing to do with race."

The tide of Swiss public opinion might be turning against open borders with the EU. >>> By Bruno Waterfield | Wednesday, February 4, 2009

AFP: Swiss Weigh Up EU Immigration in High Stakes Vote

GENEVA — The Swiss voted Sunday in a high stakes referendum to decide whether or not to continue to freely allow in workers from the neighbouring European Union.

Polling booths were due to close at noon (1100 GMT) in the ballot on the Swiss government's attempt to prolong the accord with the EU on free movement of labour and to extend it to workers from the bloc's most recent members, Bulgaria and Romania.

Campaigning has pitted non-member Switzerland's economic interests against traditional popular fears about immigration and the neutral Alpine nation's prized independence.

But the fraught global economic climate, which has hit prosperous Switzerland in recent months, has added to the uncertainty, as the last opinion poll for Swiss television showed only a slender advance for a 'yes' vote.

Free movement since 2002 - which also allows Swiss residents in the EU to freely take up jobs there - is widely credited with helping fuel Switzerland's economic boom in recent years by helping to overcome a shortage of skilled labour.

Supporters, including the bulk of the Swiss political, business and social establishment have warned that a "no" vote could jeopardise those gains and a carefully nurtured though often tense relationship with the now 27 nation bloc.

Centre-right Radical Party politician Leonard Bender, a supporter of free movement, said that the current economic climate raised the stakes.
"It's not the right moment to make our position more fragile when cooperation with the European Union has been so fruitful," he told AFP.

But opponents led by the hard right Swiss People's Party (SVP) appear to have captured the mood of many voters by whipping up fears about Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants and a threat to Swiss jobs. >>> © AFP | Sunday, February 8, 2009

BBC: Swiss to Extend EU Worker Access

The people of Switzerland have voted to continue allowing in workers from the EU and to extend access to two new member states, Romania and Bulgaria.

Official referendum results showed that almost 60% of voters had supported the proposal.

Right-wing politicians had warned that extending access could bring an influx of cheap labour at a time of recession.

Switzerland remains outside the EU - but its political and economic ties to Europe are very close.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Berne said that a "no" to free movement could have put that relationship at risk.

Since the Swiss first introduced free movement of labour the number of EU citizens working in Switzerland has risen to over a million.

Supporters of the government proposal to extend access said that free movement rules had helped attract skilled workers to Switzerland. [Source: BBC] | Sunday, February 8, 2009

BBC:
Swiss Votes on EU Worker Rights >>> By Imogen Foulkes, BBC News, Berne | Sunday, February 8, 2009

BBC:
Switzerland Opens Its Borders >>> By Imogen Foulkes, BBC News, Geneva | Friday, December 12, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

New ‘Radical Islam in Bulgaria’ Claims
SOFIA ECHO: Just days after Sofia hosted a forum on how teaching at schools could be used to forestall radical Islam, a researcher gave an interview alleging that extremist Islamic sects were operating in eastern Bulgaria.

In an interview with Bulgarian news agency Focus, associate professor Tatyana Dronzina – described as an expert on conflict and terrorism research – was quoted as saying that Turkish-linked radical sects Nurju, Suleymandj and Miligurush were believed to be active in the eastern part of the country.

There were some grounds for believing that people linked to these sects were trying to make contact with pupils in Muslim religious schools in Shoumen, Rousse, Momchilgrad and in the Islamic Institute in Sofia as well, Focus quoted Dronzina as saying

While several intelligence and media reports have highlighted the rise of radical Islam in the former Yugoslavia and especially in Bosnia, earlier in 2008 US journalist Christopher Deliso said in his book The Coming Balkan Caliphate: Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West that Bulgaria was among Balkan countries where radical Islam activists were present.

Most intelligence reports have suggested that any such activity in Bulgaria is on a small scale. New ‘Radical Islam in Bulgaria’ Claims >>> By Clive Leviev-Sawyer | October 5, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>

Medics Imprisoned in Libya Arrive in Bulgaria, Free
BBC: Six Bulgarian medical workers who were imprisoned in Libya for deliberately infecting children with HIV have arrived in Bulgaria after being freed.

The five nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor, who served eight years of the life sentences they received, had always maintained they were innocent.

All six were pardoned on their arrival by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The release was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.

The EU's External Affairs Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, made many trips to Libya, meeting the prisoners and working to improve conditions for children infected with HIV/Aids.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, were also involved in the final negotiations.

Mr Sarkozy is now scheduled to visit Libya on Wednesday and meet the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, to discuss Tripoli's re-integration into the international community. HIV medics released to Bulgaria (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Libya releases HIV medics

Mark Alexander

Libyen: Das Todesurteil gegen fünf bulgarische Krankenschwestern und einen palästinensischen Arzt ist bestätigt worden!

Photo des infirmières grâce au Figaro

NZZ ONLINE: Schock im Gerichtssaal in Tripolis: Entgegen den Erwartungen der meisten Beobachter hat das Oberste Gericht Libyens das Todesurteil gegen fünf bulgarische Krankenschwestern und einen palästinensischen Arzt bestätigt. Die Eltern der angeblich von ihnen mit dem HI-Virus angesteckten Kinder hatten noch am Tag zuvor eingelenkt.

spi. Am Vortag war die Hoffnung bei den fünf in Libyen wegen eines Aids-Skandals gefangenen Krankenschwestern aus Bulgarien und dem palästinensischen Arzt noch gross gewesen. Nur gerade einen Tag vor der Entscheidung des Obersten Gerichts hatten offenbar die Familien der Opfer ein Einsehen gehabt. Sie hätten finanzielle Entschädigungen akzeptiert, teilte die Ghadhafi-Stiftung am Dienstag mit. Todesurteile in Libyen bestätigt: Schuldspruch gegen bulgarische Krankenschwestern und Arzt (mehr)

BBC:
Libya HIV death sentences upheld

Le FIGARO:
Les infirmières bulgares restent condamnées à mort

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Death Sentence Upheld for Six Foreign Medics

Mark Alexander