A former Bulgarian lawmaker accused of spying for Russia and sanctioned by the United States for corruption has been elected head of the International Movement of Russophiles (MDR) -- a group backed by Russia's Foreign Ministry purporting to gather members from 40 countries.
Nikolai Malinov, who is also the leader of a pro-Russia lobbying group in Bulgaria known as the Russophiles National Movement and is running as a candidate in next month's early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, was unanimously elected chairman of the MDR on March 14 at the movement's founding congress in Moscow.
That gathering was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the deputy head of Russia's upper chamber of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, ideologue Aleksandr Dugin, and oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.
President Vladimir Putin and Russian Patriarch Kirill sent congratulatory messages to the gathering.
In 2019, Malinov, a former lawmaker from Bulgaria's Socialist Party (BSP), was charged with funding and spying for two Russian organizations and barred from traveling abroad.
Last month, Malinov was sanctioned by the United States and Britain for corruption together with seven other Bulgarian politicians who had served as members of parliament or held top government jobs.
The U.S. Treasury Department says Malinov, who was barred from traveling abroad, bribed a Bulgarian judge to allow him to go to Russia to personally receive the Friendship Medal from Putin in 2019.
Two of Malinov's companies, his party, Russophiles for the Revival of the Fatherland, and the Russophiles National Movement group have also been placed on the U.S. sanctions list under the Global Magnitsky Act, which targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the globe.
Although still charged with espionage, Malinov is currently a candidate in the April 2 elections for the Neutral Bulgaria coalition, of which his Russophiles National Movement group is a member. It is unclear how he was allowed to travel to Moscow again despite being barred from traveling abroad.
