Jurgen Roth on Tapegate: How Can Borisov Be So Stupid?

Politics » DOMESTIC | January 18, 2011, Tuesday // 11:44
Bulgaria: Jurgen Roth on Tapegate: How Can Borisov Be So Stupid? German investigative journalist Jurgen Roth (front) pictured on his way out of the home of Aleksei Petrov, whom he interviewed in November. Photo by BGNES

Leading German investigative journalist Jurgen Roth, known for his work on organized crime in Bulgaria, has declared that the Borisov Cabinet must resign if the scandalous tapes of senior official's phone conversations leaked recently prove to be authentic.

"If Boyko Borisov has at least some political ethics, he must resign," Roth told Deutsche Welle in an interview.

At the beginning of the interview, the German journalist does express his hope that the tapes of conversations of Bulgaria's Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov with other senior officials, including Prime Minister Borisov, will be carefully investigated to figure out if they have been falsified.

Roth states that if they turn out to be forged, that will be no surprise for anybody, but if they are proven authentic, this will be a real political scandal.

The tapes leaked recently by the Galeria weekly contain conversations that provide evidence of political cover-ups on part of the Borisov government for certain companies in Bulgaria such as Lukoil, Billa, and the Ledenika brewery, and also expose a conflict between Bulgaria's two Deputy Prime Ministers.

"If they are proven to be authentic, this will be a really huge scandal, which will kill completely the trust in Boyko Borisov and the entire government. Because the corruption, which is something like a feature of the Bulgarians, is still widely spread in spite of all the promises and police operations. And this is something that needs to be said," Jurgen Roth states.

In his view, the scandal will show the Bulgarians that all promises made for them were unreal, while in terms of foreign policy it will have even greater ramifications since it will shatter the trust that the Bulgarian government has earned to date with its foreign partners.

"Who can even be trusted in Bulgaria?," will be the question that Roth thinks will be generated if the tapes are found to be authentic.

He points out that if the same scenario happened in Germany, the media and public pressure would force the government to resign.

"Borisov must resign if he has even a little political ethics and hygiene. I think this is more than clear. Anything else would be just camouflage. And, to be honest the fact that a person can be so stupid as to talk about such things on the phone, is leaving me speechless," Roth concludes.

Back in November 2010, Jurgen Roth expressed grave fears about what would happen in Bulgaria if the Borisov Cabinet falls. It was in November that Roth made a two-hour interview with Aleksei Petrov, the former secret agent of Bulgaria's State National Security Agency DANS, who has been under house arrest because of organized crime charges. The Galeria weekly, which leaked the scandalous tapes, is know as the mouthpiece of Aleksei Petrov.

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Tags: Jurgen Roth, German, journalist, Tapegate, tapped, tapping, tapes, Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister, corruption

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