Bulgaria is set to appoint a new European Public Prosecutor following the suspension of current officeholder Teodora Georgieva amid an ongoing examination, with her mandate expiring at the end of July 2026. The Ministry of Justice has announced seven candidates vying for the position, which plays a crucial role in protecting the EU’s financial interests through autonomous prosecution of cross-border crime. A selection committee will begin reviewing applicants this week, ultimately recommending three nominees to the Council of the European Union for a six-year appointment.
- The mandate of Teodora Georgieva, who has been suspended pending an investigation, expires at the end of July.
- The final appointment is made by the Council of the European Union.
Seven candidates have applied for the position of Bulgarian European Public Prosecutor, the Ministry of Justice announced.
The current European Public Prosecutor, Teodora Georgieva, will complete her term on July 29, 2026. However, she is currently suspended due to an ongoing investigation, the conclusion of which remains uncertain. The Bulgarian European Public Prosecutor is based in Luxembourg, home to the institution’s central office, which is led by Laura Kövesi. Kövesi recently visited Bulgaria for the opening of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office’s new building in Sofia.
Three of the applicants currently serve as delegated European Prosecutors: Dimitar Belichev, who heads the Sofia office, Svetlana Shopova, and Michaela Raydovska. The remaining candidates are Ivaylo Iliev, an assistant to Bulgaria’s representative at Eurojust; Plamen Petkov, Deputy Head of the Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office; Desislava Pironeva, former Deputy Chief Prosecutor under Ivan Geshev; and Boyko Atanasov, a long-time applicant.
Pironeva and Shopova both applied for the European Public Prosecutor position in 2020 alongside Georgieva, but Pironeva withdrew her candidacy, and Shopova finished second in the rankings.
The selection process for the Bulgarian European Public Prosecutor was announced in November, with a document submission deadline of December 12. The process unfolds in two stages:
First, a review of candidate eligibility will be conducted,
followed by interviews with eligible applicants. A seven-member selection committee will determine who will be invited to interview, a session scheduled for Thursday. The committee is chaired by Deputy Minister of Justice Stoyan Lazarov, and its members include Veronika Imova and Tsvetinka Pashkunova from the Judicial College of the Supreme Judicial Council, Kalina Chapkanova and Gergana Mutafova from the Prosecutor’s College, the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Venera Milova, and Professor Georgi Mitov from Sofia University.
According to regulations, the committee will propose three candidates, listed in alphabetical order. The Minister of Justice will submit the nominations for approval by the Council of Ministers, after which they will be sent to the relevant institutions within the EU. European Public Prosecutors are appointed by the Council of the EU for a six-year term. This process underscores the EU’s commitment to independent prosecution of crimes affecting its financial interests.
The most recognizable name among the candidates is Desislava Pironeva, who served as Deputy Chief Prosecutor during Ivan Geshev’s tenure.
She has been a magistrate for over 20 years,
previously working as an investigator and a prosecutor in the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office. Following the early termination of Ivan Geshev’s mandate, Borislav Sarafov was appointed as acting Chief Prosecutor. On his recommendation in June 2023, all of Geshev’s deputies were dismissed. Pironeva was then appointed as a prosecutor in the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor’s Office, following its closure within the Prosecutor’s Office.
The second candidate, Dimitar Belichev, began his career as a junior prosecutor in Haskovo and served as a prosecutor there from 2013 to 2015. He then moved to the district prosecutor’s office in Plovdiv, and from late 2017, worked as a prosecutor in the Plovdiv District Prosecutor’s Office. From June 2019 to 2021, he was seconded as a national expert to OLAF. Belichev has been a delegated prosecutor since 2021.
Ivaylo Iliev previously served as a chief investigating officer. He began his career as a junior prosecutor in Kyustendil in 2010, and from 2016 to 2021, he was a district prosecutor in the city. In March 2021, he was promoted to the district prosecutor’s office in Kyustendil.
He was selected as a European delegated prosecutor
and assumed office on February 1, 2022. He subsequently applied for the position of assistant to the national member in Bulgaria’s National Bureau at Eurojust and was appointed to that role. From May 1, 2023, he was seconded to The Hague. In May of this year, at the request of Borislav Sarafov, the Supreme Judicial Council changed Iliev’s workplace from The Hague to Kyustendil. Sarafov argued that, according to European regulations, each member state has the option to change the location of the deputy or assistant to the national member. To request such a change, the acting Chief Prosecutor cited the increasing costs of living, which had risen significantly over the past three years, with expenses for the assistant exceeding those for the national member at Eurojust.
Svetlana Shopova was chosen as a delegated prosecutor during the first procedure in 2021, receiving the most votes.
Michaela Raydovska has been a prosecutor since 2009, beginning her career in the district prosecutor’s office in Blagoevgrad and moving to the Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office a year later.
In 2017, she was promoted to the SGP
and served as its Deputy Head for three years, participating in the selection process for delegated European prosecutors in 2023 and being approved for the position.
Plamen Petkov is the Deputy Head of the SRP. He has been a prosecutor since 2006, initially in the Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office, and from October 2018, he headed the Prosecutor’s Office in Slivnitsa. He later returned to work at the SRP.
The final candidate is investigator Boyko Atanasov. Over the years, he has applied for various positions, including Head of the Sofia District Prosecutor’s Office, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office, and the Appellate Specialized Prosecutor’s Office. He has twice applied for the position of European delegated prosecutor, ran as an independent candidate for parliament, and sought a position on the Judicial Council. He recently applied for the position of City Prosecutor of Sofia, and now for Bulgarian European Public Prosecutor. He has not been elected to any of these positions to date.
