Ex Top Diplomat: Bulgaria Never Paid Ransom to Somali Pirates

Politics » DIPLOMACY | January 8, 2010, Friday // 18:11
Bulgaria: Ex Top Diplomat: Bulgaria Never Paid Ransom to Somali Pirates A huge row erupted between members of Bulgaria's current and former governments over an alleged ransom paid to Somali pirates. Pictured: one of the 16 Bulgarian sailors who were kidnapped off Somalia comes back home, April 2009. Photo by BGNES

The former Bulgarian government of Sergey Stanishev never promised and never paid ransom for the release of 16 Bulgarian sailors kidnapped by Somali pirates with the hijacking of the Malaspina Castle ship in the spring of 2009.

This was stated Friday by Bulgaria’s former Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin amidst a raging controversy in which Prime Minister Boyko Borisov hinted his government had to pay a sum promised by the Stanishev government as part of a ransom of about USD 2 M.

Borisov said he knew how to handle classified information so he would not reveal exactly “what Stanishev did” but hinted that an arrangement for covering a ransom payment made by the former Bulgarian government had to be paid out recently by the new Cabinet.

Kalfin was positive that the Bulgarian government never negotiated any ransoms during his term as Foreign Minister.

“And keep in mind that we dealt with a number of cases of kidnapped Bulgarians – in Nigeria, in Somalia, etc – not once was there any talk of paying a ransom on our part,” said Kalfin who is currently a Socialist MEP.

In his words, the “admission” of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov that the Bulgarian government paid a ransom was a huge blunder because this led to an increased risk of kidnapping for every Bulgarian citizen in areas with high terrorist activity. On top of that, such a statement was completely untrue, according to ex-Foreign Minister.

“The Prime Minister should not be hiding behind any “classified information”; he should reveal the whole thing, if he says “A”, he should be ready to say “B” as well, and to make it clear what are the cases in which the former government committed to paying a ransom,” Kalfin stated.

He pointed out that all cases of kidnapped Bulgarians around the world had been resolved successfully before the end of the term of the Stanishev government. There was only one exception – that of humanitarian worker Danka Pachova who was kidnapped by Somali militants, and was only released a month after the Borisov government took over.

“Never, under any circumstances has there been any talk of committing to paying a ransom. This is an international policy because once any state starts paying ransoms for its citizens, each of its citizens could be kidnapped, and the bill can be sent to the Prime Minister,” Kalfin said as cited by dir.bg.

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Tags: somali pirates, Ivaylo Kalfin, Foreign Minister, Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, Sergey Stanishev, kidnapped, hijack, ransom, classified information

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