The European Public Prosecutor's Office in Bulgaria is an unwanted phenomenon

Analysis by attorney-at-law and Co-chair of the BHC Adela Kachaunova, published in "Dnevnik" on March 31, 2025

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is an independent body of the European Union responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to trial crimes against the EU’s financial interests. It began its work in 2021, with a total of 24 EU member states participating, including Bulgaria. Each country appoints one European Prosecutor and a pre-determined quota of European Delegated Prosecutors. These prosecutors are subordinate to the European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Kövesi. The EPPO’s headquarters is in Luxembourg, but the European Delegated Prosecutors work in their respective countries.

The establishment of the EPPO office in Bulgaria reveals a consistent and deliberate effort by the authorities to create obstacles to its normal and effective functioning. The current silence of the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office regarding the authenticity of recordings implicating European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva in connections with judicial power broker Petyo Petrov (known as "Euroto") suggests that the authorities are interested in her removal. Such a removal would delay investigations, while speed and surprise in the early stages of criminal investigations are crucial for their successful completion. Since there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the recordings, they indicate that Georgieva lacks independence, which has prompted the EPPO to initiate an internal review against her.

The history of the EPPO’s establishment in Bulgaria provides insight into systematic attempts by the authorities to neutralize investigations into corruption and other financial crimes.

Selection of the European Prosecutor – Irregularities in Teodora Georgieva’s Appointment

In 2018, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Justice conducted a selection process for its European Prosecutor nominee, with the obligation to propose three candidates. At the time, the Minister of Justice was Tsetska Tsacheva from GERB. Out of the initial nine applicants, three were submitted to the EPPO Selection Committee: Desislava Pironeva – then a prosecutor at the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office (SCP), later appointed as a deputy to former Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev in early 2020; Svetlana Shopova-Koleva – a prosecutor at the SCP; Teodora Georgieva – a judge at the Administrative Court of Sofia, but also a former prosecutor.

It was striking that higher-ranking prosecutors with more experience were eliminated from consideration.

Teodora Georgieva was not selected by the independent EPPO Selection Committee. Nevertheless, the Council of the European Union appointed her on July 22, 2020. Council meetings include ministers from member states, and at this particular session, it was likely attended by then-Minister of Justice Danail Kirilov from GERB. Similar irregularities occurred in Belgium and Portugal, where a Portuguese deputy minister resigned over the scandal. In February 2021, tensions arose over these appointments, leading the European Parliament to request full documentation on the candidates nominated by the Council. A group of law professors from European universities wrote an open letter expressing outrage that the Council had ignored the independent EPPO Selection Committee. Despite this, the selected candidates, including Bulgaria’s Georgieva, assumed their roles as European Prosecutors.

Selection of European Delegated Prosecutors – Sabotage by Geshev’s Prosecution

Initially, Bulgaria’s quota was 10 European Delegated Prosecutors, and at the end of 2020, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) opened the first selection procedure. A total of 35 magistrates applied, and in early 2021, the SJC Prosecutorial College selected exactly 10 candidates to be submitted for final approval by the EPPO Selection Committee.

In March 2021, Laura Kövesi rejected six of the ten candidates, citing insufficient experience. Some were investigators without prosecutorial experience, while others were civil and administrative judges.

The rejection of six out of ten nominees created tension between the EPPO and Bulgarian prosecutors. Although the EPPO’s selection criteria clearly required significant experience in prosecuting crimes, this had been ignored. Furthermore, Bulgarian authorities requested a meeting with the EPPO to "clarify" the requirements.

The SJC Prosecutorial College initially denied that candidates had been rejected, later refused to comment, and by June 2021 closed the selection process altogether, even though it had no authority to do so. This violated the Regulation establishing the EPPO.

Following this, Laura Kövesi visited Bulgaria and met with Ivan Geshev, which led to the reopening of the selection process for the remaining six positions. In September 2022, the SJC Prosecutorial College again submitted exactly six candidates, but Kövesi rejected one of them, leaving Bulgaria’s quota unfilled.

Despite the unfilled quota, Kövesi requested an increase in Bulgaria’s prosecutors from 10 to 15 due to heavy caseloads.

In November 2022, three additional prosecutors were selected, but some candidates showed low competence, while others withdrew from the process.

By early 2023, it became clear that the work of European Delegated Prosecutors was significantly hindered, despite Bulgaria’s high case volume and need for more prosecutors. In February 2023, reports emerged of mass resignations, with three prosecutors already having resigned and five more informally expressing their desire to return to work under Ivan Geshev. Support staff also refused to work in the EPPO office.

There are three possible explanations for this: Prosecutors were incentivized to leave the EPPO in exchange for specific promises; Prosecutors were threatened; Administrative difficulties made their work impossible.

The mass resignations prompted Laura Kövesi to send a harsh letter to Ivan Geshev and hold talks with interim Justice Minister Krum Zarkov. She demanded that Bulgaria support an audit of the EPPO’s Bulgarian office. Part of the audit focused on working conditions and environment, leading Kövesi to request that Bulgaria provide office space and assign police officers to conduct independent investigations.

A building at 134 Rakovski St. was designated as EPPO headquarters, but remains unoccupied due to poor working conditions.

Following Kövesi’s intervention, resignations ceased, but the Bulgarian office still lacks proper technical and administrative support. It remains underfunded, understaffed, and without independent police investigators.

In 2023, the EPPO also complained to Bulgaria’s Ministry of Interior that police officers failed to conduct a crucial search. Again, Kövesi visited Bulgaria and met with Prime Minister Denkov, Justice Minister Slavov, and the then-interior minister Kalin Stoyanov, who assured that cooperation had improved.

Currently, Bulgaria has 12 out of the required 15 prosecutors, working from the Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office building at 23 Skobelev Blvd.

Why is this important?

Proper administrative and technical support is essential for the EPPO’s independence and ability to achieve visible results. However, Bulgarian authorities have actively obstructed its work.

In early February 2025, Teodora Georgieva accused the Ministry of Interior of hindering investigations and stated that civil servants were fired for cooperating with the EPPO. Shortly afterward, she received threats, her mother died under unclear circumstances, and compromising recordings surfaced regarding her appointment in 2020.

This triggered another visit by Laura Kövesi, who demanded protection for Georgieva. Days later, the EPPO launched an internal investigation and suspended Georgieva.

Hope remains that Kövesi’s investigation will expose the deepest secrets of Bulgaria’s judicial corruption networks. Since Bulgaria is an EU member, EU financial interests are also Bulgarian interests, and the state should support the EPPO rather than sabotage it.

The silence of the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office on these influence networks is becoming deafening.

(Photos: Laura Kövesi (left), Teodora Georgieva (right). Source: European Public Prosecutor's Office; Collage: BHC.)