UK joins Bulgaria to probe poisoning

LINK TO SALISBURY OUTRAGE

BULGARIA and the UK say they will jointly investigate possible connections between the poisoning of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury and the poisoning of the Bulgarian owner of an arms factory in 2015.

Britain’s ambassador to Sofia, Emma Hopkins, said after a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, that information about the possible poisoning of Emilian Gebrev had been discussed.

“We are working in a joint team and a close partnership, and we are going to find out the facts in this case,” Ms Hopkins told reporters.

“All questions about the national security of the UK and Bulgaria are of paramount importance to us, and we will continue this investigation even after Brexit.”

Bulgarian chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said that a Russian citizen, Sergei Fedotov, made three trips to Bulgaria in 2015, one of them in April, when Mr Gebrev was poisoned. Mr Gebrev survived.

According to investigative group Bellingcat, Fedotov was also suspected of being involved in the Novichok nerve agent poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter. He arrived in Britain two days before the 2018 attack, on the same day as the two suspected attackers.

Mr Tsatsarov said prosecutors had compiled “significant” data on Fedotov’s trips to Bulgaria as part of an investigation into the poisoning that was reopened in October.