James O'Brien: The Magnitsky Sanctions are intended to Strengthen Bulgaria's European Choice

Politics | February 14, 2023, Tuesday // 09:23
Bulgaria: James O'Brien: The Magnitsky Sanctions are intended to Strengthen Bulgaria's European Choice James O'Brien (left) and Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev (right)

Sanctions under the global "Magnitsky" law are aimed at strengthening Bulgaria's choice, which deepens its integration in Europe and cooperation with global companies, as well as the diversification of energy sources, James O'Brien - head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination - said in an interview with Bulgaria’s National Radio (BNR).

After his meetings with President Rumen Radev and representatives of the caretaker government of several political parties, O'Brien said that there is an understanding in the country of the importance of carrying out reforms in the field of fighting corruption, but real actions in this direction are also necessary.

We would like to see a process where the parties come together and agree on a specific text and commit to voting on it at the start of the new parliament. And then implement it fully. Because we want, not just laws on paper, right? And Bulgaria should have an independent, impartial and responsible investigative service, anti-corruption service, chief prosecutor, etc. In addition to legislation, these laws must also be enforced," said James O'Brien.

5 more Bulgarian citizens - the former finance minister in the GERB governments Vladislav Goranov, the BSP politician Rumen Ovcharov, the leader of the Russophiles movement Nikolai Malinov and two former bosses of the Kozloduy NPP, sanctioned under the Magnitsky law, details of damages for millions of euros to the Bulgarian society. After all the important meetings with the most key institutions and representatives of the Bulgarian authorities on one long Monday, BNR asked Ambassador James O'Brien whether the Bulgarian institutions understood the meaning of these second sanctions, with which, relatively speaking, the "Bulgarian list" according to "Magnitsky" upgraded the first one, composed of: Bozhkov, Peevski, Zhelyazkov.

The sanctions aim to strengthen Bulgaria's choice to deepen its integration in Europe and cooperation with global companies, as well as the diversification of energy sources. It is important that some old practices are identified and discontinued. These sanctions follow the evidence we have and establish tens of millions of euros that have been taken from the Bulgarian people and given in some cases to officials, in some cases to foreign companies. The purpose of these sanctions is for Bulgaria to be able to investigate and stop such behavior in order to be a full participant in the world economy. What we would like to see next is a focus on judicial reform. It is important that we have taken these actions with our UK colleagues in full harmony with the values of the EU as well. Actions for judicial reform, which were presented in the last session of the parliament, aim to make it possible for Bulgaria to investigate and prosecute those involved, and then to reform the institutions responsible for these actions.

So what we would like to see is a clear commitment from all parties to introduce the reform and vote it as a priority issue in the new parliament.”

Did you see something like this happen after the first sanctions you imposed in the United States on certain persons from Bulgarian political life and business two years ago, namely the gambling boss Vasil Bozhkov - now in Dubai, Delyan Peevski - soon to be an MP from DPS, and Ilko Zhelyazkov - current deputy chairman of the SRS Control Bureau?

I was not in the same position at the time. So I won't compare the two moments. What I saw in the meetings, and I met with the president, with the caretaker government, with several of the political parties, is that everyone understands the importance of these reforms. We would like to see a process where the parties come together and agree on a specific text and commit to voting on it at the start of the new parliament. And then implement it fully. Because we want, not just laws on paper, right? And Bulgaria should have an independent, impartial and responsible investigative service, anti-corruption service, chief prosecutor, etc. In addition to legislation, these laws must also be enforced. I have heard strong commitments from all the parties I have spoken to and I know some of the others have said they strongly support the justice reform legislation. We have a good relationship with the leading parties who have stated that they want to advance this judicial reform.

The sanctions are not intended to undermine or circumvent Bulgarian institutions. They are not attacking any political party. They refer to individuals who created a parallel system that diverted a lot of money from the people of Bulgaria and hindered especially the reformation of the Bulgarian energy system. And now it's time to continue in a better way. We believe that judicial reform is the most important new step in the anti-corruption reform I have described.”

How do you recognize whether a party, institution or leader is real or just pretending to be Euro-Atlantic?

Obviously, we have a wonderful embassy here. But first - we evaluate our partners on whether we share results and values. If there are people who only talk and then do not act, they are not very effective partners. There are many different dimensions where people work as our partners and on different issues. In this case, there may be different coalitions, the message of these sanctions is that this reform of the anti-corruption system, of the attorney general, of the anti-corruption commission, this is very important for the EU, for the UK and for the US and it is in this that we measure our partnership. Will we be correct in our assessment of who wants to achieve and who wants to talk? Well, you know, I hope you citizens, as well as the media, will look into this. We are open to different opinions from civil society as well. But again, we will see who will implement these reforms.”

Will there be more names added to the list?

I will not speculate on this matter. Importantly, this is intended to motivate reform. We announce them when we have evidence for them. It's not like we have a pre-set list. I don't have a huge closet full of names from which I can pull one name or another whenever we feel like it. We are working on evidence, but the idea is that there should be reform so that Bulgaria can prevent these activities, investigate them and punish them when they happen. And that's what we most want to see going forward.”

For the first time, your service message has direct information about amounts and offshore accounts. Is all this known to the Bulgarian authorities and have they asked you for the specific data?

“We have done this with our Treasury Department. Because we are aware that the people of Bulgaria deserve to know more about what we know. That's why we provide more factual information. President Radev asked a similar question at the meeting on Monday. And, you know, we're happy to share what we can share. But again, I think it's not just about these individuals. It is about getting a reform of the system. With our sanctions, we are saying that these individuals, and some people associated with them, are not allowed to use our financial system, ie. dollar-based financial system or bank and cannot enter US territory. Sanctions are protective for us. They refer to who is allowed to come and play under our rules. And we believe that individuals who have engaged in corrupt behavior should not participate in our system and visit our country.”

In fact, the categories in the announcement from the Treasury Department and your sanctions office are key -- listing -- energy contract corruption, judicial bribery, and legislative manipulation. This is all quite serious. Actually, we wanted to ask you whether sanctions really help if the sanctioned persons do not have financial assets, for example in the United States, there is this sanction. Will the sanctions hurt their relatives, will they affect the global banking system where they can operate, and should we expect all these individuals to go …. in Dubai?

Sanctions are meant to uphold the standards on which our system is built - a rules-based financial system and immigration system. We love doing these things with our friends and partners. So having the UK join us is of great benefit. Does it harm the sanctioned individuals?! That's not the goal. But being deprived of the ability to trade in dollars or pounds or not having access to financial and insurance services based in London can be a serious inconvenience. The goal is to protect our system and ultimately help Bulgaria to protect itself.”

Is it enough for, say, GERB leader Boyko Borissov to simply distance himself from his former finance minister Vladislav Goranov, is it enough for each of these parties or institutions to say they support judicial reform?

We want them to stand behind the reform and for the deputies to support it. And I think all parties have heard that message, and we'll see who will deliver on it.”

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Tags: O'Brien, Magnitsky, Bulgaria, sanctions

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