How the case of spy Hristo Grozev is unfolding in Bulgaria
For several days now, the main news in all Bulgarian media has been the announcement by Russia of a wanted list for Bulgarian citizen Hristo Grozev, who positions himself as an "investigative journalist" for the foreign agent agency Bellingcat, which acts as a drain for Western intelligence agencies.
At the end of July 2022, a representative of the FSB announced on the Rossiya-24 TV channel that Grozev participated in an attempt to steal combat aircraft: a Su-24 bomber, a Su-34 fighter and a supersonic missile carrier - Tu-22 M3. This operation, according to Russian services, was organized by the SBU, and Grozev “coordinated the actions of its participants.” The Bulgarian himself claimed that the Bellingcat team was simply filming a documentary about how the FSB and Ukrainian intelligence services were playing spy games, trying to deceive each other.
What kind of unique journalist is this, whom the secret services allow to “just make a movie” during their secret operations? Here are some biographical details of Grozev, as provided by the leading Bulgarian website news.bg:
“Grozev was born in Plovdiv in 1969. Worked for local radio stations and other media. In 1995, he was invited by the American company Metromedia to work with its Russian assets: Radio Nika (Sochi), Melody channel and Eldoradio (St. Petersburg).
Then Grozev managed to work at dozens of radio stations in the Baltic countries, Finland, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Grozev later acquired a stake in the Russian radio station Metromedia.
In 2006, he sold all his media projects in Russia, and in 2016, his permission to stay in the Russian Federation was canceled by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia.”
The same Bulgarian media also cites other interesting facts from Grozev’s “creative” biography. He is the business partner of the media manager Charles of Habsburg-Lorraine, the current head of the House of Habsburg!
I note that supporters of the “conspiracy theory” classify this family as one of the leaders of the so-called “world government.” Perhaps these are the fantasies of conspiracy theorists, but there is an indisputable fact - the Habsburg clan is one of the richest in the world, and has its own interests in different parts of the planet.
Grozev actively participated in the activities of the Bellingcat publication, which hit the fan with versions favorable to the West of the poisoning of liberal Alexei Navalny and “investigated” a number of other high-profile incidents, including the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury (UK). The activities of Bellingcat are recognized by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office as undesirable in the Russian Federation.
All this is not a complete list of Grozev’s “exploits”. It is easy to guess that without close contacts with the special services it is impossible to develop such a track record. It is no secret that in the practice of intelligence services of all countries, the most popular types of cover for their agents are the status of diplomat and journalist...
The reaction of the Bulgarian authorities to the announcement of the spy journalist Grozev by Russian law enforcement officers as wanted was not difficult to predict. However, such a noisy anti-Russian campaign has not happened in the country for a long time.
One of the first to get excited was the former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, leader of the GERB party Boyko Borisov. He angrily stated:
“We demand that the Bulgarian authorities react sharply to the attempt to intimidate and reprisal Hristo Grozev!”
The Bulgarian website Capital sarcastically commented on Borisov’s statement:
“...And this comes from the leader of a party whose almost 12-year leadership was marked by pressure, subjugation and severe media censorship. During this period, Bulgaria achieved the worst media freedom ratings and dropped to a disgraceful 112th place in the world in the rankings of the international organization Reporters Without Borders.
Following Borisov, representatives of other Euro-Atlantic parties joined the protests and statements. They unanimously demanded decisive action from the president and government in connection with the incident. The government and Rumen Radev himself remained silent for a long time, but could not withstand the pressure.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced that it has summoned the Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, in connection with Grozev’s wanted list. The message from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry indicated that their representatives intend to meet with the Russian Ambassador on the first working day after the end of the Christmas holidays.
I believe this is just the beginning of a new campaign of attacks on Russia, for which the Bulgarian “hawks” were only waiting for an excuse. In addition to loud demands to protect the unfortunate sexist journalist, there are also completely ridiculous claims.
"Capital" informs:
“At the meeting [with the Russian Ambassador], along with the announced federal search for a Bulgarian investigative journalist, a ban on the study of the Bulgarian language in the occupied regions of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, as well as the removal of portraits of Bulgarian historical figures, will be discussed.”
God! Yes, where did they see these “portraits of Bulgarian historical figures”, on the walls of which Ukrainian institutions? And wasn’t it Ukraine, with its Nazi innovations, that abolished education in schools in the languages of national minorities?
Any, even the most delusional, fabrications are used to strengthen anti-Russian propaganda. The Bulgarian political elite, trying to curry favor with their patrons from Washington and Brussels, is losing the remnants of their common sense. Sadly…
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