Yet
another tragic death of a high profile journalist is now raising
questions. A Bulgarian journalist and TV personality who was in the
midst of a deep
investigation into alleged corruption involving EU funds has
been found murdered in the Bulgarian town of Ruse,
authorities said on Sunday.
The
body of 30-year-old Viktoria Marinova was found in a local park on
Saturday, and though so far police have presented the case as a
tragic rape and murder unconnected with her professional work as
a journalist, Bulgarian
media were quick to suggest it could be linked to her EU
investigations.
Police said on Sunday she appeared to have been beaten, raped, and
strangled to death in crime described as "exceptionally brutal".
Major
media outlets in the West, meanwhile, were quick to pick up on the
suspicious nature of the timing of the heinous crime, with The
Guardian noting
that "The European
commission and German government have urged Bulgarian
authorities to bring to justice those responsible for the brutal
killing of the journalist Viktoria Marinova, who
had been reporting on alleged corruption in one of the EU’s newest
member states."
width:
100%;"Viktoria
Marinova worked for a Bulgarian TV station called TVN where she
presented two investigative programs. Getty Images
Bulgarian
Interior minister Mladen Marinov immediately tried to throw cold
water on widespread speculation that she was targeted for here
investigation journalism, saying there was no evidence of this: “It
is about rape and murder,” he said in a statement. Marinov
added that there was no evidence suggesting she had previously been
threatened over her work.
However,
news of her death has been picked up in headlines around the world
after Saudi journalist and Washington
Post columnist Jamal
Khashoggi was reported murdered by
a Saudi hit team inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in a
sensational story already tearing apart Saudi-Turkish diplomatic
relations.
Marinov
was further the
third journalist to be murdered in the EU this year while
pursuing corruption and fraud investigations.
The
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, an
intergovernmental organization, has called for a "thorough
investigation" into Marinov's death, describing a
disturbing "trend of increased attacks against female
journalists."
Meanwhile USA
Today,
echoing other breaking stories, suggests that she possibility of a
criminal conspiracy based on the explosive nature of the story she
was pursuing at
the time of her death:
It
is not known if Marinova's murder is linked to her journalism work.
Investigators are still trying to trace potential witnesses and
establish a motive for her killing. However, Bulgarian
media reported that Marinova recently interviewed Romanian
journalists who were investigating politicians and businessmen for
alleged corruption of EU funds.
Some
statements of EU-connected officials themselves have seemed to
suggest there may be more to the story than simple local crime. Vice
president of the EU's executive branch, Frans Timmermans, for
example, tweeted the following: "Again
a courageous journalist falls in the fight for truth and against
corruption. Those responsible should be brought to justice
immediately by the Bulgarian authorities."
A
spate of other recent deaths of journalists who had been
actively working on corruption probes of powerful individuals are as
follows, according to USA
Today:
Maltese investigative
journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb in
October. She
had worked on the so-called Panama Papers,
leaked documents that revealed financial information about the
offshore accounts of high-profile officials.
Slovakian
investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend were shot to
death in February. Kuciak
was investigating tax fraud.
Swedish
freelance journalist Kim Wall was murdered in a gruesome case in
Denmark last year by Danish inventor Peter Madsen. Wall
was killed and mutilated after boarding Madsen's submarine to do an
interview.
Questions
that now hang over Bulgarian journalist Viktoria Marinova's
gruesome murder prompted Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov
to issue a statement, saying, “The best criminologists were
sent to Ruse, let’s not press them. A large amount of DNA had been
obtained.”
Throughout
Monday, various media reports uncovered more details as the exact
nature of the story Marinova was working on. According to
a Newsweek report those
she interviewed just prior to her death had already come under close
scrutiny by Bulgarian authorities:
According
to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), citing local news
website Terminal 3, the
men had been looking into alleged fraud involving European Union (EU)
funds,
while working alongside the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting
Project (OCCRP).
In
September, the two reporters had been detained by Bulgarian
police. Reporters
Without Borders said they were arrested after taking pictures of
evidence tied to the misuse of EU money by Bulgarian firms. Bivol
claimed to have found “large-scale corruption.”
The
owner of Bulgarian investigative reporting site Bivol, Asen Yordanov,
told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that his staff had been issued
threats due to their investigating rampant misuse of EU funds.
“Viktoria’s
death, the brutal manner in which she was killed, is an execution. It
was meant to serve as an example, something like a warning,” Yordanov
told the AFP.
Marinova’s
TV station commented on her death in a statement published by
Reuters: “With great pain and insurmountable grief the TVN’s team
is experiencing the loss of our beloved colleague Viktoria Marinova
and we pray for sympathy to the sorrow of her relatives and
colleagues.”: “With great pain and insurmountable grief the TVN’s
team is experiencing the loss of our beloved colleague Viktoria
Marinova and we pray for sympathy to the sorrow of her relatives and
colleagues.”
UK
COLUMN NEWS: NATO Weapons Trafficking Hub, UK’s New AUMF, Grenfell
Tower Updates
21st Century Wire Today
we reveal a massive NATO-based international weapons trafficking hub
run out of Baku, Azerbaijan supplying conflict zones
worldwide including terrorists
in Syria, UK Tory MPs now lobbying for a ‘Authorisation of the Use
of Military Force in Syria to respond to chemical attacks, and US now
asking to share a ‘No Fly Zone’ with Russia in Syria, More
revelations with Grenfell Tower in London and much
more…
UK
Column News co-anchor Mike
Robinson joined
by 21WIRE’s Patrick
Henningsen and David
Scott with
today’s news round-up.
Patrick
Henningsen speaks to Dilyana
Gaytandzhieva from
Sofia, Bulgaria about her investigation featured at Trude
Newspaper into
weapons being shipped to terrorists via diplomatic channels. The article is text only. I have removed the illustrations
Airlines
transports weapons with diplomatic clearance for Syria, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Congo
At
least 350 diplomatic Silk Way Airlines (an Azerbaijani state-run
company) flights transported weapons for war conflicts across the
world over the last 3 years. The state aircrafts of Azerbaijan
carried on-board tens of tons of heavy weapons and ammunition headed
to terrorists under the cover of diplomatic flights.
Documents
implicating Silk Way Airlines in arms supplies were sent to me by an
anonymous twitter account – Anonymous Bulgaria.
The
leaked files include correspondence between the Bulgarian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Bulgaria with
attached documents for weapons deals and diplomatic clearance for
overflight and/or landing in Bulgaria and many other European
countries, USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, to name a few.
According
to these documents, Silk Way Airlines offered diplomatic flights to
private companies and arms manufacturers from the US, Balkans, and
Israel, as well as to the militaries of Saudi Arabia, UAE, and US
Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and the military forces of
Germany and Denmark in Afghanistan and of Sweden in Iraq. Diplomatic
flights are exempt of checks, air bills, and taxes, meaning that Silk
Way airplanes freely transported hundreds of tons of weapons to
different locations around the world without regulation. They made
technical landings with stays varying from a few hours to up to a day
in intermediary locations without any logical reasons such as needing
to refuel the planes.
According
to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Dangerous Goods
Regulations, operators, transporting dangerous goods forbidden for
transportation by air by civil aircrafts, must apply for exemption
for transportation of dangerous goods by air.
According
to the documents, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has sent
instructions to its embassies in Bulgaria and many other European
countries to request diplomatic clearance for Silk Way Airlines
flights. The embassies sent diplomatic notes to the Foreign Ministry
of the relevant country to request such exemption. The Foreign
Ministry sent back a note signed by the local civil aviation
authorities giving exemption for the transportation of dangerous
goods.
The
requests for diplomatic clearance included information about the type
and quantity of the dangerous goods – heavy weapons and ammunition.
However, the responsible authorities of many countries (Bulgaria,
Serbia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland,
Turkey, Germany, UK, Greece, etc.) have turned a blind eye and
allowed diplomatic flights for the transport of tons of weapons,
carried out by civil aircrafts for military needs. Under IATA
regulations, the transport of military cargo by civil aircrafts is
not allowed. To get around this legality, Silk Way Airlines applied
for diplomatic exemption through local agencies.
U.S.
sends $1 billion worth of weapons
Among
the main customers of the “diplomatic flights for weapons”
service provided by Silk Way Airlines are American companies, which
supply weapons to the US army and US Special Operations Command. The
common element in these cases is that they all supply non-US standard
weapons; hence, the weapons are not used by the US forces.
According
to the register of federal contracts, over the last 3 years American
companies were awarded $1 billion contracts in total under a special
US government program for non-US standard weapon supplies. All of
them used Silk Way Airlines for the transport of weapons. In some
cases when Silk Way was short of aircrafts due to a busy schedule,
Azerbaijan Air Force aircrafts transported the military cargo,
although the weapons never reached Azerbaijan.
The
documents leaked from the Embassy include shocking examples of weapon
transport. A case in point: on 12th May 2015 an aircraft of
Azerbaijan Air Forces carried 7,9 tons of PG-7V and 10 tons of PG-9V
to the supposed destination via the route Burgas (Bulgaria)-Incirlik
(Turkey)-Burgas-Nasosny (Azerbaijan). The consignor was the American
company Purple Shovel, and the consignee – the Ministry of Defense
of Azerbaijan. According to the documents, however, the military
cargo was offloaded at Incirlik military base and never reached the
consignee. The weapons were sold to Purple Shovel by Alguns,
Bulgaria, and manufactured by Bulgaria’s VMZ military plant.
According
to the federal contracts registry, in December of 2014 USSOCOM signed
a $26.7 million contract with Purple Shovel. Bulgaria was indicated
as the country of origin of the weapons.
On
6th June 2015, a 41-year old American national Francis Norvello, an
employee of Purple Shovel, was killed in a blast when a
rocket-propelled grenade malfunctioned at a military range near the
village of Anevo in Bulgaria. Two other Americans and two Bulgarians
were also injured. The US Embassy to Bulgaria then released a
statement announcing that the U.S. government contractors were
working on a U.S. military program to train and equip moderate rebels
in Syria. Which resulted in the U.S. Ambassador in Sofia to be
immediately withdrawn from her post. The very same weapons as those
supplied by Purple Shovel were not used by moderate rebels in Syria.
In December of last year while reporting on the battle of Aleppo as a
correspondent for Bulgarian media I found and filmed 9 underground
warehouses full of heavy weapons with Bulgaria as their country of
origin. They were used by Al Nusra Front (Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria
designated as a terrorist organization by the UN).
Another
U.S. contractor involved in the same program for non-US standard
military supplies is Orbital ATK. This company received $250 million
over just the past two years. Information as to what type of weapons
and to whom those weapons were supplied is classified.
According
to the documents, Orbital ATK transported weapons on 6 diplomatic
Silk Way Airlines flights in July and August of 2015 flying the route
Baku (Azerbaijan)-Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-Baku-Kabul
(Afghanistan). The weapons were exported by IGMAN j.j. Konjic,
(Bosnia and Herzegovina) commissioned by Orbital ATK. The consignee
was the National Police of Afghanistan. Interestingly, all these
diplomatic flights with weapons had technical landings and a 7 h 30
min stop at Baku before their final destination – Afghanistan.
Military
aircrafts of Azerbaijan transported 282 tons of cargo (PG-7VL and
other grenades) on 10 diplomatic flights in April and May 2017 to the
destination Baku-Rijeka (Croatia)-Baku. The consignor was the
Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, and the consignee – Culmen
International LLC, USA. This same company has been awarded two
contracts ($47 million each) along with other contractors for non-US
standard weapon supplies on 18 February 2016 and 19 April 2017
respectively. Culmen International LLC has also signed a $26.7
million contract for foreign weapons with the Department of Defense
and a $3.9 million contract for newly manufactured non-US standard
weapons.
Chemring
Military Products is another main contractor in the program for
non-US standard weapon supplies to the US army through diplomatic
Silk Way Airlines flights. This military supplier has 4 contracts for
$302.8 million in total. The weapons were purchased from local
manufacturers in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania and according to
documents transported to Iraq and Afghanistan via diplomatic flights.
One
of those flights in particular, on 18 October 2016, carrying 15.5
tons of 122 mm rockets bought by Chemring in Belgrade, Serbia, was
diverted from its destination – Kabul, and instead landed in
Lahore, Pakistan. After a 2-hour stop, the aircraft took off to
Afghanistan. The only possible explanation for the extension of the
flight by a thousand kilometers is offloading in Pakistan, even
though documents stated that the cargo was destined for Afghanistan.
The
largest non-US standard weapons supplier to the US army is Alliant
Techsystems Operations-USA with contracts totalling $490.4 million.
In December of 2016, this company transported tons of grenades (API
23×115 mm, HE 23×115 mm, GSH 23×115 mm) from Yugoimport, Serbia to
the Afghani Defense Ministry on diplomatic flights to the destination
Baku-Belgrade-Kabul.
Saudi
Arabia – sponsor and arms distributor
Besides
the USA, another country that has purchased huge quantities of
Eastern-European weapons and exported them on Silk Way Airlines
diplomatic flights is Saudi Arabia. In 2016 and 2017, there were 23
diplomatic flights carrying weapons from Bulgaria, Serbia and
Azerbaijan to Jeddah and Riyadh. The consignees were VMZ military
plant and Transmobile from Bulgaria, Yugoimport from Serbia, and
CIHAZ from Azerbaijan.
The
Kingdom does not buy those weapons for itself, as the Saudi army uses
only western weapons and those weapons are not compatible with its
military standard. Therefore, the weapons transported on diplomatic
flights end up in the hands of the terrorist militants in Syria and
Yemen that Saudi Arabia officially admits supporting.
The
Arab Kingdom also distributes military cargo to South Africa – a
region plagued by wars over the control of the wealth in gold and
diamonds found in African countries.
On
28 April and 12 May this year, Silk Way carried out two diplomatic
flights from Baku to Burgas-Jeddah-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo).
The military cargo on-board of both flights was paid for by Saudi
Arabia, according to the documents leaked from Azerbaijan’s Embassy
to Bulgarian sources. The aircraft made a technical landing at Jeddah
airport with a 12 h 30 min stop for the first flight and 14 h stop
for the second one.
The
aircraft was loaded with mortars and anti-tank grenades including
SPG-9 and GP-25. These very same weapons were discovered by the Iraqi
army a month ago in an Islamic State warehouse in Mosul. Islamic
State jihadists are also seen using those heavy weapons in propaganda
videos posted online by the terrorist group. Interestingly, the
consignee on the transport documents, however, is the Republican
Guards of Congo.
Coyote machine gun 12,7х108 mm appeared in videos and
photos posted online by militant groups in Idlib and the province of
Hama in Syria. The same type of weapon was transported on a
diplomatic flight via Turkey and Saudi Arabia a few months earlier." groups in Idlib
and the province of Hama in Syria. The same type of weapon was
transported on a diplomatic flight via Turkey and Saudi Arabia a
few months earlier.
In
February and March of 2017, Saudi Arabia received 350 tons of weapons
on Silk Way diplomatic flights flying to the route
Baku-Belgrade-Prince Sultan-Baku. The cargo included 27 350 psc.
128-mm Plamen-a rockets and 10 000 pcs. 122 mm Grad rockets. The
consignor was Tehnoremont Temerin, Serbia to order by Famеway
Investment LTD, Cyprus.
On
5 March 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft carried 1700 pcs.
RPG-7 (consignor: Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan) and 2500 pcs.
PG-7VM (consignor: Transmobilе Ltd., Bulgaria) for the Defense
Ministry of Saudi Arabia. Diplomatic flights from Burgas Airport to
Prince Sultan Airport on 18 and 28 February 2017 each carried a
further 5080 psc. 40 mm PG-7V for RPG-7 and 24 978 psc. RGD-5. The
weapons were exported by Transmobile, Bulgaria to the Ministry of
Defense of Saudi Arabia. Such munitions and RPG-7 originating in
Bulgaria can often be seen in videos filmed and posted by the Islamic
State on their propaganda channels.
UAE
is another Arab country that has purchased Eastern European weapons
which are not compatible with its military standards and were
apparently re-supplied to a third party. On three flights to
Burgas-Abu Dhabi-Swaihan in March and April of 2017, Silk Way
transported 10.8 tons of PG7VM HEAT for 40 mm RPG-7 on each flight
with technical landing and a 2-hour stop in Abu Dhabi. The exporter
is Samel-90, Bulgaria, the importer – Al Tuff International Company
LLC. The latter company is involved with Orbital ATK LLC, which is
the Middle East subsidiary of the American military company Orbital
ATK. Although the ultimate consignee is the UAE army, the documents
of the flight reveal that the sponsoring party is Saudi Arabia.
Cash
Payments
On
26 February 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft took off from Baku
and landed in UAE, where it loaded two armored vehicles and one Lexus
car. The request for diplomatic clearance indicated the payment as
cash – US dollars. The aircraft landed in North Sudan and, the next
day, in the Republic of Congo. The exporter was Safe Cage Armour
Works FZ LLC, UАЕ and the receiving party was the Republican Guards
of Congo. The sponsoring party, however, was Saudi Arabia.
Diplomatic
Flights carry deadly white phosphorus
White
Phosphorus is an incendiary weapon whose use is very controversial
due to the deadly harms it can inflict. On 31 March 2015, Silk Way
transported 26 tons of military cargo including white phosphorus from
Serbia (exporter: Yugoimport) and 63 tons from Bulgaria (exporter:
Arsenal). On 22 March, another 100 tons of white phosphorus were
exported from Yugoimport, Belgrade to Kabul. No contract is attached
to the documents of those flights.
On
2 May 2015, a Silk Way aircraft loaded 17 tons of ammunition,
including white phosphorus, at Burgas airport. The exporter was
Dunarit, Bulgaria. The aircraft made a technical landing and a 4-hour
stop at Baku before reaching its final destination – Kabul. The
consignee was the Afghani police. No contract is attached as proof.
Baku
– international hub for weapons
Azerbaijan’s
Ministry of Defense was repeatedly the consignee of weapons which it
actually did not receive. On 6 May 2015, an Azerbaijani military
aircraft flew to Burgas (Bulgaria)-Incirlik (Turkey)-Burgas. It
carried aviation equipment from Bulgaria to Turkey with the
consigner: EMCO LTD, Sofia, and consignee – Ministry of Defense of
Azerbaijan. However, the cargo was offloaded in Turkey and never
reached Azerbaijan.
Some
of the weapons that Azerbaijan carries on diplomatic flights were
used by its military in Nagorno-Karabakh against Armenia. In 2016,
Azerbaijan accused Armenia of using white phosphorus. Armenia denied
the allegations and in turn accused Azerbaijan of fabrication, as the
only piece of evidence was based on a single unexploded grenade found
by Azerbaijan’s soldiers. According to the documents from the
Embassy of Azerbaijan in Sofia, white phosphorus munitions were
carried on a diplomatic flight via Baku the previous year.
Baku
plays the role of an international hub for weapons. Many of the
flights make technical landings with stops of a few hours at Baku
airport or other intermediary airports en-route to their final
destinations. Moreover, these types of aircrafts flying to the same
destinations do not typically make technical landings.
Therefore, a
landing for refueling is not actually required. Despite this, Silk
Way aircrafts constantly made technical landings. A case in point: in
December of 2015 Silk Way carried out 14 flights with 40 tons of
weapons on each flight to the destination Ostrava (the Czech
Republic)-Ovda (Israel)-Nososny (Azerbaijan). The exporter is not
mentioned in the documents while the receiver is consistently the
Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. Strangely, the aircraft diverted and
landed at Ovda airport (a military base in Southern Israel), where it
remained for 2 hours.
In
2017, there were 5 flights from Nish (Serbia) via Ovda (Israel) to
Nasosny (Azerbaijan). Each flight carried 44 tons of cargo – SPG
Howitzer, RM-70/85. The consignor is MSM Martin, Serbia, the
consignee: Elbit Systems, Israel, and the Ministry of Defense of
Azerbaijan. All aircrafts landed in Israel and stayed for 2 hours
en-route to Azerbaijan.
The
same Israeli company Elbit Systems on a flight from Barno (the Czech
Republic) via Tel Aviv (Israel) to Bratislava (Slovakia) re-exported
armored vehicles (TATRA T-815 VP31, TATRA T-815 VPR9). They were sent
by Real Trade, Prague to Elbit Systems. The ultimate consignee,
however, was the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. The aircraft
landed in Tel Aviv and then in Bratislava, where the cargo was
imported by another company – MSM Martin, Slovakia. It is not clear
why the plane flew from Europe to Asia and then back to Europe with
the same cargo on-board. Ultimately, it did not reach its final
destination – Azerbaijan. This type of aircraft, IL 76TD, can carry
cargo of up to 50 tons. This one carried only 30 tons according to
the documentation provided.
Therefore, it could carry additional
cargo of 20 tons. Since the flight was diplomatic, it was not
subjected to inspection.
A
military coup after a diplomatic flight to Burkina Faso
Some
diplomatic flights carry weapons for different conflict zones
crossing Europe, Asia and Africa. Such is the case with two
Azerbaijan Air Forces flights to the destination
Baku-Belgrade-Jeddah-Brazzaville-Burkina Faso on 30 August and 5
September 2015. The consignors were CIHAZ, Azerbaijan, and
Yugoimport, Serbia. The consignee was the Ministry of Defense of the
Republic of Congo. The aircraft made two technical landings – in
Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The
41.2-ton cargo from Baku and Belgrade included: 7, 62 mm cartridges,
12 pcs. sniper rifles, 25 pcs. М12 “Black Spear” calibre
12,7х108 mm, 25 psc. RBG 40×46 mm/6M11, and 25 pcs. Coyote machine
gun 12,7х108 mm with tripods. The same heavy machine gun appeared in
videos and photos posted online by militant groups in Idlib and the
province of Hama in Syria a few months later. The aircraft also
carried: 1999 psc. M70B1 7,62х39 mm and 25 psc. М69А 82 мм. On
26 February 2016, a video featuring the same М69А 82 mm weapons was
posted to Youtube by a militant group calling itself Division 13 and
fighting north of Aleppo.
Interestingly,
the aircraft that carried the same type of weapons landed in
Diyarbakir (Turkey), 235 km away from the border with Syria. Another
type of weapon, RBG 40 mm/6M11, which was from the same flight and
supposedly destined for Congo too, appeared in a video of the Islamic
Brigade of Al Safwa in Northern Aleppo.
After
Turkey, the aircraft landed in Saudi Arabia and remained there for a
day. Afterwards it landed in Congo and Burkina Faso. A week later,
there was an attempted military coup in Burkina Faso.
300
tons of RPG-s, machine guns and ammunition for the Kurds
In
March of 2017, over 300 tons of weapons were allegedly sent to the
People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Northern Syria. Six diplomatic
flights transported 43 tons of grenades on each flight from VMZ
Military Plant, Bulgaria, to the Defense Ministry of Iraq. There are
no contracts applied, however. On 28 March, 82 tons of cargo (AKM
7,62×39 mm and AG-7) were sent from Otopeni (Romania) to Erbil
(Iraqi Kurdistan). The consignor was Romtechnica S.A., the consignee
– again the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad. No contracts are
provided for this flight either.
On
16 March 2016, yet another Silk Way diplomatic flight carried 40 tons
of military cargo from Slovenia to Erbil: the exporter is ELDON
S.R.O., Slovakia, the importer – Wide City Ltd. Co, Erbil, the
final consignee – the government of Kurdistan.
Wide
City Ltd. Co has three offices – in Limassol (Cyprus), Sofia
(Bulgaria) and Erbil. The office of the Bulgarian company Techno
Defence Ltd is at the address in Sofia. On the website of the
company, the owner of Techno Defense Ltd Hair Al Ahmed Saleh claims
that he has an office in Erbil and that his company manufactures
Zagros weapons in Azerbaijan (K15 zagros, 9×19 mm and automatic K16
zagros). These types of Zagros weapons appeared in propaganda footage
posted by the military wing of the Kurdish PKK party, which is
designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey. The President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev is also an ethnical Kurd.
I
reached out to all sides concerned involving my investigation.
However, I have not received any comment.
Bulgaria
Rejects NATO Fleet in the Black Sea, Romania Hurriedly Backs Off
Bulgaria’s
prime minister firmly ruled out his country’s participation in the
proposed NATO fleet in the Black Sea aimed at countering Russian
forces in the area: “I don’t need war,” the politician said
after Russia promised a response; meanwhile Romania’s president,
one of the initiators, has hurriedly backed off.
"I
always say that I want the Black Sea to see sailboats, yachts,
large boats with tourists and not become an arena of military
action… I do not need a war in the Black Sea," Bulgarian
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Thursday referring to the
proposal for the NATO fleet in the Black Sea made
by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis while visiting Bulgaria
on June 15-16.
“Our
country will not become part of the Black Sea fleet being
prepared against Russia,” Borissov said as quoted
by EurActiv.com website.
“To
send warships as a fleet against Russian ships exceeds the
limit of what I can allow,” Borissov told reporters in Sofia
on Thursday, as cited by Bloomberg.
“To
deploy destroyers, aircraft carriers near [the resort cities of]
Bourgas or Varna during the tourist season is unacceptable.”
Klaus
Iohannis has quickly backed off, insisting that “the Black Sea
naval initiative regards joint training and exercises and that NATO
cannot and does not want to keep a fleet in the Black Sea,”
Romanian news agency Agerpres reported on Thursday.
“The
initiative I introduced to the Bulgarian President and Prime
Minister is an initiative designed for cooperation in the
area of joint exercises and joint training of the Romanian,
Bulgarian and Turkish naval forces. This is the so-called naval
initiative, and it does not comprise all naval forces, just joint
exercises and training," the agency quotes the Romanian leader
as saying in response to recent statements by the
Bulgarian prime minister.
The
Romanian president apparently said that “the initiative should be
deployed under the NATO umbrella, because all the three Black
Sea countries — Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey — are NATO
allies.”
''Where
the misunderstanding probably emerged was in relation to the
concept of a NATO fleet. Nobody creates a NATO fleet. That would
be nonsense. NATO cannot and does not want to keep its own Black
Sea fleet,” Agerpres quotes Iohannis as explaining.
‘We
will board the ships, we will waive our flags, but only Bulgaria
and Romania”, the Bulgarian prime minister said, adding that any
other scenarios could lead to a military conflict.
After
the USS Porter (DDG-78), armed with assault cruise missiles and
an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (primary weapon: Standard
Missile 3), entered the Black Sea last week, Moscow promised
“response measures” to Washington.
“If
a decision is made to create a permanent force, of course,
it would be destabilizing, because this is not a NATO sea,"
Andrey Kelin, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s European
Cooperation Department then said.
"If
a decision is made to create a permanent force, of course,
it would be destabilizing, because this is not a NATO sea," he
added.
Under
the Montreux Convention, countries which don't have a Black Sea
coastline cannot keep their warships there for more than 21
days. NATO members Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria are all Black Sea
Basin countries.
Earlier
reports of the Balkan Insight website however suggest that
Bucharest is urging NATO to create a permanent alliance fleet
in the Black Sea in a “move aimed to counter
Russia’s strong involvement in the region.”
The
website said that as early as February Romanian Defense
Minister Mihnea Motoc announced that Romania is taking the first
steps to negotiate with NATO to set up a regular
multinational naval patrol in the Black Sea.
“The
possibility of creating such a fleet might be discussed at the
next NATO summit in July,” Motoc then said. He added that
Romania must be ready by then with a clear plan and
proposal.
The
outlet also added that the regular flotilla might include ships
from NATO countries bordering the Black Sea, namely Bulgaria,
Romania and Turkey, but also from Germany, Italy and the
United States.
The
Bulgarian prime minister was not that optimistic. He said that his
country was among the most loyal EU countries and was doing what
was expected from the European family. But he added that there
was no way that Bulgaria would be attacked by Russia.
“You
remember how our nuclear reactors from the Belene central left
for Turkey. Not a single colleague spoke in my defense when
President Putin, in the presence of Erdogan, waived his
finger at me, saying that Bulgaria lost everything”, EurActive
quotes Borissov as saying.
The
website adds that “indeed, under Western pressure, Bulgaria
abandoned plans to build a nuclear central with Russian
technology, and gave up the South Stream gas pipeline project.
Putin made strong statements against Bulgaria, and in January
2015, Borissov warned that his country faced an energy catastrophe.”
The
International Court of Arbitration at the International
Chamber of Commerce in Geneva ruled in favor of the
Russian Atomstroyexport company and ordered to pay €620
million in compensation from Bulgaria to Russia.
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Viktoria
Marinova worked for a Bulgarian TV station called TVN where she
presented two investigative programs. Getty Images
Viktoria
Marinova worked for a Bulgarian TV station called TVN where she
presented two investigative programs. Getty Images
