Russian Prosecutor's Bulgarian Visit Sparks Controversy

Sotir Tsatsarov has confirmed that Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chayka is visiting Bulgaria under the terms of a bilateral agreement for cooperation between the two countries, signed during the mandate of Bulgaria's previous attorney general, Boris Velchev.

The Bulgarian prosecutor general said they would be signing an agreement on the joint training of prosecutors from the two countries, with the first one in the field of countering terrorism.

Tsatsarov did not specify when his colleague is arriving, despite media reports last Friday that the Russian's top justice official was starting his visit on Monday. He promised also that "every step" of Chayka's visit would be made public to the media.

A spokesperson for Tsatsarov on Friday could not confirm the first information about the Russian prosecutor general's trip to Bulgaria, which had been leaked by several media outlets.

The news sparked controversy in Bulgaria. Chayka is serving a third mandate as attorney general of Russia and is famously loyal to the Kremlin.

He was accused of corruption in a documentary made by the Anti-Corruption Foundation of opposition leader Alexey Navalny in 2015.

In December 2015, Chayka dismissed accusations that his sons had built a business empire together with business associates from the Russian Tsapok criminal gang, suggesting that Navalny's investigation had been paid for by foreign interests.

On Sunday, the small anti-corruption party "Yes, Bulgaria" which failed to enter the parliament in the snap election in March, called on the Bulgarian institutions to boycott meetings with the Russian prosecutor.

"This is a shameful act and we need to stand against it," the party said in a declaration, published on its website.

It...