Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev today emphasized that Sofia had in recent months uncovered additional evidence implicating Hezbollah in the July 2012 bus bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria that killed five Israelis and a Bulgarian. There has been some doubt about Sofia’s position regarding the bombing, and Yovchev sought to be as explicit as possible in clearing up any confusion:
The position of Bulgaria on the terror act in Burgas is absolutely real, there is no change in it and we have leads pointing at Hezbollah, according to Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev. Yovchev spoke at a briefing Wednesday, reiterating in the period he has been at the post, the Bulgarian investigation and services have received additional evidence, also backing the above. He stated he would not present any details as the investigation was still ongoing, adding there was no doubt who masterminded the act, only the ID of the perpetrator remained unclear.
Yovchev’s statements come on the eve of the bombing’s July 18th anniversary.
European Union officials are scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss blacklisting the Iran-backed group as a terror organization. There has been substantial pressure on the E.U. to acknowledge that a group which kills E.U. citizens in terror attacks on E.U. soil is in fact a terrorist group.
The Bulgarian investigation, coupled with the Cypriot conviction in March of a confessed Hezbollah member on terror-related charges, has heightened that pressure.
Diplomats from countries seeking to overcome internal E.U. resistance have become increasingly public about their frustrations regarding the reluctance of some fellow member states to blacklist Hezbollah. One official was particularly blunt with the AFP about suggestions that Hezbollah is not engaged in terrorism on the Continent:
A diplomat from a country in favor of a Hezbollah ban said a “consensus is clearly building” because “the evidence that it [Hezbollah] committed terrorism on EU soil is strong,” AFP reported on Tuesday. The diplomat appeared to reference the evidence linking Hezbollah to a terrorist attack on an Israeli tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria, that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver last July…
Michael McCann, a Labor MP in the UK, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, “Hezbollah should be proscribed, full stop.” “The simple truth of the matter is that Hezbollah is Iran’s proxy and issued to exert its sphere of influence over Lebanon and the wider region in whatever way possible. But don’t take my word for it, the deputy leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said in 2007 that all of Hezbollah’s policies including firing missiles into Israel would not have taken place without the consent of Iran,” he said.
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