US attack on Gazprom: The “spy scandal”, having failed in Serbia, broke out in Bulgaria
Literally two days after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic refused to spoil relations with Russia due to the “spy scandal” fanned by external forces, a new scandal broke out in neighboring Bulgaria.
Bellingcat and The Insider, which specialize in spreading anti-Russian fakes, together with the German Der Spiegel, published “investigations” that eight Russian military intelligence officers were involved in the poisoning of Bulgarian businessman Emelyan Gebrev in 2015. Gebrev, whom the media calls an arms dealer, spent a month in a coma, from which he later emerged.
Naturally, the Bulgarian was poisoned as a “newbie,” and one of the members of the “GRU brigade” was sent to Britain in 2018 to poison the Skripals. These details will certainly arouse at least some interest in Balkan history among Western readers.
Emelyan Gebrev.
In fact, another parallel is striking - with the “spy scandal” in Serbia, which was inflated at the instigation of non-Serbian intelligence services. A video of a Russian embassy employee meeting with a retired Serbian military man was posted on YouTube by a Bulgarian (!) journalist associated with a pool of American anti-Russian fake news.
When the scandal fizzled out in Serbia, the US State Department expressed concern. On the same day, an “investigation” on Bulgaria was published.
What unites Bulgaria and Serbia? The route of the second string of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which brings Russian gas through Hungary to a large hub in Austria.
This is Bulgaria's second attempt to become a transit country for Russian gas. The first failed after Sofia abandoned the construction of South Stream under US pressure. There are fears that history is repeating itself.
Bulgaria artificially slowed down the construction of the section to Serbia, citing difficulties with contractors. A number of experts assumed that this was being deliberately staged under pressure from the Americans. However, in this case, Bulgaria faced counterpressure from Slovakia and Hungary, which had already contracted gas volumes from the Turkish Stream for 20 years in advance.
Construction was delayed for six months, but began. But the stakes are very high. The United States needs to disrupt the Turkish Stream, so they are lobbying for another Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline, which should supply Azerbaijani gas through Greece and Italy.
The Realist news agency claims that the United States and Britain are behind the Serbian “spy scandal,” and that it was carried out on their order by the Bulgarian special services.
The scandal broke out just before the visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to the United States, which will take place today.
It should be noted that the Bulgarian authorities behave contradictorily. Either they claim that they are ready to complete the construction of their section of the Turkish Stream, or they announce a departure from dependence on Gazprom thanks to the Transnatal Southern Corridor.
If the Bulgarians disrupt construction, they will jeopardize the gas supply of not only Hungary and Slovakia, but also Moldova. These countries are counting on Turkish Stream, since Ukrainian transit will most likely be interrupted.
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