The Sofia court recognized that the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, came to Bulgaria in 2018 not as a priest, but as a politician. Also, the court did not find slander in the words of the then Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, who called the patriarch a KGB agent. This is reported on Facebook by the Balkan observer.
Three years ago, Bulgaria celebrated the 140th anniversary of the San Stefano Peace Treaty, concluded in 1878 between the Russian and Ottoman Empires – on reconciliation and the end of the war. During the solemn parade, President Rumen Radeev expressed gratitude to all the peoples who fought against the Turks.
In response, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church criticized Radeev’s speech, stressing that Bulgaria should be grateful exclusively to Russia.
A few days later, Deputy Prime Minister Simeonov responded to the words of the Russian patriarch.
“We must clearly tell people what Patriarch Kirill is. He did not descend from heaven. He is not from heaven and is not a messenger of God. Patriarch Kirill is known as the cigarette metropolitan of Russia.<…>This is not an Eastern Orthodox priest. This is agent Mikhailov from the Soviet KGB, a second-rate Soviet agent, “the politician said.
According to Simeonov, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church owns a private jet, a villa in Switzerland, and an expensive watch, and since 1996 he has 14 billion imports of excise-free cigarettes.
Later, in court, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that his statements related to Patriarch Kirill not as a spiritual leader, but as the head of a foreign delegation, and he did not believe that his behavior could cause any harm.
The plaintiff in the case was the reserve general of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria and the leader of a pro-Russian public organization, the secretary of the Russophila movement and the head of the Bulgarian Revival Party, Emil Milanov.
The court sided with the accused Simeonov, recognizing his statements as truthful and recovering from Milanov about 75 euros in legal costs.
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