Bulgaria’s former prime minister Boyko Borisov has openly expressed his fear of Serbian mobster Sreten Josic, who allegedly stood at the bottom of a murder plot against him.

“Many people around the world are scared of Sreten Josic,” Borisov told K2 radio over the weekend.

“It is not for nothing that when the Dutch authorities came to Bulgaria they said Josic has been living in Bulgaria for four years, but nobody dared arrest him. But even the Dutch prosecutors were so scared, they made a point not to put on tape what they say. But we arrested him, an extradition followed, he was tried and sentenced to 15 years in jail. And that’s all.”

Allegations of Josic’s murder plot against Borisov, in his capacity of Prime Minister, first surfaced in 2010 after Prosecutor Boyko Naydenov stated that the prosecution has evidence of a murder plot against Borisov.

Media reports then cited insiders, who claimed the Sreten Josic is the man behind the plot.

The allegations received wide coverage in Serbian media, being quoted by Tanjug, Blic, and B92, among others.

Josic, aka Joca Amsterdam, is well known in Bulgaria, having allegedly plotted a prior attempt to assassinate Borisov in 2003, when the latter was Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Interior.

Since then the names of Josic and Borisov have been linked multiple times.

In April 2009, Sreten Josic made headlines in Bulgaria after being arrested in Serbia, telling a Belgrade court he enjoyed the protection of high-ranking officials here, citing among others the name of the then Interior Chief Secretary and now Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov.

Borisov, who was at the time mayor of Sofia and preparing to lead his GERB party to victory in general elections July, vehemently denied the allegations, accusing then ruling Three-Way Coalition of wanting to discredit him.

In the same period Borisov received summons to testify in Joca's trial, which he refused.
Beginning of June 2010 Josic was sentenced to 15 years in jail by the Serbian Supreme Court.