Bulgarian commissioner-designate asked to come clean about her past

Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Bulgarian pick for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's Commission, did not answer Euractiv's questions about her past despite reports that she played a controversial role at various times in her capacity as a cabinet minister.

Since von der Leyen's nomination of Zaharieva as Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, media have reported several "skeletons in her closet", suggesting that the Bulgarian may face a tough hearing from MEPs.

Euractiv sent Zaharieva a list of questions, some of which are likely to be asked by MEPs during her hearing next month in front of the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee. But the MEP in waiting did not reply within the 24 hour deadline, or before the publication of this article.

In 2018, when Zaharieva was justice minister in Boyko Borissov's cabinet, Bulgaria was rocked by a major corruption scandal regarding her granting of Bulgarian passports to foreigners in exchange for € 5,000 in bribes.

The VMRO, a coalition party in Borissov's cabinet, was reportedly at the centre of the scandal, although no convictions have yet been handed down.

Euractiv asked Zaharieva to give her version of events, more generally, of her close relations with this political force.

Another problem for Zaharieva is that in 2019, she proposed to appoint Jordan (Orce) Kamcev (Kamchev), a businessperson from North Macedonia with a Bulgarian passport, as Bulgaria's honorary consul in the neighbouring country.

Kamcev is the richest person in North Macedonia according to Forbes and was sanctioned by the US for corruption in 2023. Ultimately, he didn’t become honorary consul, which would have given him diplomatic immunity, as his name was involved in other scandals.

Euractiv asked on what basis Orce Kamcev was proposed as honorary consul. At the time, he controlled the media that actively campaigned against Bulgaria in favour of now-former VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski.

Kamcev also reportedly finances the VMRO-DPMNE party, which is now in power and allegedly obstructing the country's EU integration in the interests of Russia.

Zaharieva was also asked whether family members had business dealings with companies linked to Kamcev. In 2021, Petar Bogoevski, a politician from North Macedonia said that Kamcev had paid €8 million to obtain protection from prosecution with the help of the Bulgarian authorities, a scheme in which the name of Zaharieva's husband was mentioned.

Investigative journalist Nikolay Staykov of the NGO Anti-Corruption Fund told Euractiv that according to leaked emails from the deputy speaker of the Russian parliament, Alexander Babakov, Zaharieva's government helped Russia obtain access to strategic infrastructure. During Borissov's time in office, Bulgaria built the controversial TurkStream pipeline through its territory in the sole interest of Russia. Since the reformist government of Kiril Petkov refused to pay for Russian gas in roubles, Bulgaria has received no Russian gas but continues to transit supplies to Serbia, Hungary and Austria.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)