Jurgen Roth, a top German investigative journalist suspects that Bulgaria's commissioner designate, Rumiana Jeleva, has fallen victim to a plot by the opposition.

“Should Jeleva's run for European Commissioner fail, it can be attributed to the strong influence that the Bulgarian Socialist Party continues to have in Brussels,” Jurgen Roth, who made headlines with his book "The new Bulgarian Demons, said in an interview for Deustche Welle.

Roth rebutted an article in Germany's Die Welt which said that the husband of Bulgaria's commissioner designate, Rumiana Jeleva, has ties to the Russian mafia.

“There is scarce information about these dependencies and it is impossible to directly connect Jeleva with them and raise allegations against her,” Roth added.

According to Roth the Bulgarian Socialist Party is behind these allegations, being on a revenge campaign against the ruling center-right GERB party, whose member Jeleva is.

“I think Jeleva enjoys a good image, while the allegations against her over her husband working at a bank owned by TIM group are not sufficient to claim she is involved with the mafia,” Roth said.

Asked whether he would describe the claims for Jeleva's links to the underworld as pure speculations, Roth said:

“What do you mean by saying “underworld”? Even Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov does not think it is necessary to fight groups such as TIM. Pitched against this background, it is very difficult to throw accusations at Jeleva and her husband,” Roth said.

In the middle of September last year Jurgen Roth called on Bulgaria's prime minister to investigate the business group TIM.

In a letter to Boyko Borisov, published on his blog, Jurgen Roth expressed the belief that he will keep his promises for a crackdown on organized crime and corruption that secured him the election victory this summer.

Roth's letter was triggered by dozens of alerts by citizens of the coastal town of Varna, who oppose the highly controversial sale of thousands of square meters of land in the Sea Garden of the town, one of its landmarks.

The citizens told the German journalist that they have been pressed by people close to the TIM group, buyer of the land.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov however did not respond to the appeal.

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