Bulgaria's former defense minister arrested on bribery charge

Sofia - Bulgarian police on Thursday arrested former defense minister Nikolay Tsonev on corruption charges, the Interior Ministry in Sofia said.

Tsonev is suspected of offering a 60,000-euro (80,000-dollar) bribe to an official investigating a case against him. Another former high-ranking official of the ministry and a judge were also arrested in connection with the case.

Tsonev was a member of the Socialist-led government swept from power in the July elections after a series of corruption scandals. He was under investigation in relation to murky deals, such as a fiber-optic cable project worth 60 million euros.

The new, conservative government headed by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, has signaled its intent to crack down on corruption by opening several cases against high-ranking politicians.

Former welfare minister Emiliya Maslarova had already been indicted for corruption.

Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in 2007, lost hundreds of millions of euros in aid when Brussels suspended funds in 2008 due to widespread misuse of the money.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/316779,bulgarias-former-defence-minister-arrested-on-bribery-charge.html.