Bulgarian spy services intercept PM assassination plot

Boyko Borisov

Boyko Borisov

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister of Bulgaria has been intercepted in its planning stage by the country’s intelligence services, according to information published yesterday in the Bulgarian press. The Sofia-based 24 Chasa daily alleges that Bulgarian intelligence agents were able to intercept telephone conversations leading to a meeting of conspirators, which took place four months ago. The meeting, held at the luxury King George Palace Hotel in downtown Athens, Greece, was reportedly attended by several Bulgarian “participants [who] came onboard yachts, accompanied by numerous bodyguards”. The meeting centered on plans to fund an operation to “eliminate” Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, of Bulgaria’s conservative GERB party, who has led the country since the summer of 2009. According to 24 Chasa, participants at the meeting pledged the sum of €400,000 to fund the assassination of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, a country that has been a member of the European Union since 2007. Read more of this post

Prince Albert’s former spymaster airs Monaco’s ‘dirty secrets’

Prince Albert II

Prince Albert II

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Last April I wrote that former FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Eringer, who until recently was spymaster to prince Albert II of Monaco, was completing a book on his experiences in the tiny principality, a project he began after leaving his post. But that’s not all. Eringer has now sued the prince for €360,000 ($542,000) in alleged unpaid income, including a severance pay package. The London Sunday Times, which has “obtained” a copy of Eringer’s lawsuit, says that the document “lays bare some of [Monaco’s] dirtiest secrets”. Among them are Eringer’s claims that he investigated activities in Monaco by Russian and Italian mobsters, that he was asked to “assist” a young woman who was romantically involved with prince Albert, and that he went after video evidence showing “a woman performing a sex act on the prince” at his 40th birthday party. Read more of this post

Comment: EU wants to intercept encrypted VOIP communications

By IAN ALLEN| intelNews.org |
Italian authorities are taking the initiative in a European Union (EU)-wide effort to terminate the tacit immunity of voice-over-Internet-protocol (VOIP) communications from authorized interception. Italy’s delegation to Eurojust, an EU coordination body tasked with combating transnational organized crime, issued a statement last weekend, promising to spearhead a project to “overcome the technical and judicial obstacles to the interception of internet telephony systems”. The statement contains several references to Skype, a Luxembourg-based VOIP provider that has so far reportedly refused to share its communications encryption system with government authorities. Because of this, the latter have accused Skype of providing organized crime syndicates with the ability to communicate without fear of their messages being intercepted.

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Analysis: EU President’s alleged ties to Russian mafia

Vaclav Klaus

Vaclav Klaus

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
On December 22, 2008, intelNews reported former FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Eringer’s allegations that the current European Union (EU) president was a Soviet collaborator during the Cold War and “may still be under the influence of Russian Intelligence”. The accused is no other than Vaclav Klaus, the former Prime Minster and current President of the Czech Republic, who in 1991 co-founded the country’s conservative Civic Democratic Party. A few days ago, Business New Europe published an extensive summary of Mr. Klaus’ “historical track record of unambiguous support for Russia [which makes some] wonder exactly whose interests he best serves”. The article references a 2003 exposé published in the Czech weekly magazine Respect in further detailing Mr. Klaus’ alleged ties to Russian organized criminal activity in the Czech Republic, which “go back to the early 1990s”. Read more of this post