After elections heralded a change of power, controversial senior prosecutor Borislav Sarafov is stepping down, with the new parliament likely to seek an overhaul of the Supreme Justice Council as part of justice reforms.
Svetoslav Todorov
Bulgaria’s acting Prosecutor General, Borislav Sarafov, who was accused of protecting powerful political figures, resigned from his position on Wednesday.
His resignation is one of the first effects from the forthcoming change of power, following Bulgaria’s parliamentary election on April 19. Sunday’s snap election was won by the party headed by former President Rumen Radev, Progressive Bulgaria, which unexpectedly won a parliamentary majority with a landslide victory.
Sarafov has been criticised by opposition forces for protecting senior political figures in Bulgaria, including GERB party leader and three-time Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Delyan Peevski, the tycoon and head of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning party, who has been sanctioned by the United States.
In a statement, Sarafov said he was withdrawing his “consent to assume the position” of acting prosecutor general.
“I took this decision some time ago, after careful consideration of all legal and institutional consequences,” he said. “I delayed announcing it so as not to cause additional destabilisation […] amid a prolonged and serious political crisis.”
Under Sarafov, Bulgaria’s prosecution was accused of failing to respond seriously to corruption allegations surrounding both Borissov and Peevski, which have been exposed through international investigations and, in Peevski’s case, led to international sanctions. Both leaders have always denied any wrongdoing.
Similar criticisms were aimed at Sarafov’s predecessor, Ivan Geshev, who turned from a close ally of Borissov to a political opponent, then founded his own party three years ago, before fading from the public eye. Sarafov has been acting prosecutor general since 2023, despite the law limiting any acting capacity to just six months. The Supreme Judicial Council has the power to remove him but opted not to.
Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party has stated that carrying out justice reforms is a key ambition once in power. It is a goal shared by the country’s main pro-EU opposition entity, the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, WCC-DB, coalition.
The prospect of imminent justice reform will serve as a test of how serious Radev is about his stated intentions. His Progressive Bulgaria party and WCC–DB will together have the 160-member supermajority needed to begin the procedure to replace the Supreme Judicial Council and, in turn, select a new prosecutor general.
Both GERB and New Beginning were also connected to allegations of voter fraud in the April 19 elections. On Sunday evening, interim Interior Minister Emil Dechev announced that of 2,974 reports of election violations, 631 were connected to buying votes for New Beginning and 318 for GERB. All of the other major parties were also mentioned, but in relation to a much smaller number of cases.
Over the past year, Sarafov has tended to remain silent when allegations have been made against him, choosing not to engage with the media or his political opponents.
The major exception were his remarks following six interconnected murders in north-west Bulgaria in February, which are alleged to have been the result of cult-like practices. Sarafov’s roundabout explanations of what might have happened caused the case to become known colloquially as “the Bulgarian Twin Peaks”, and led to criticisms of the authorities fuelling media speculation instead of preventing it.
