January 6 (BTA) - GERB party leader and former prime minister Boyko Borissov, accompanied by his lawyer, Menko Menkov, spent around half an hour in the building of the National Police Chief Directorate on Thursday. Borissov did not say why he had been summoned but from his exchange with reporters it transpired that he was questioned.

Meanwhile, from comments by Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov in Parliament it emerged that Borissov was questioned about photos of wads of money and gold bars in his nightstand, which appeared in the press over a year ago.

The set of photos showed the then prime minister asleep in his bedroom with a gun on his nightstand and a drawer full of euro wads and gold bars. He did not challenge the authenticity of the photos but said he was framed by "a Mata Hari", indicating that he was talking about a specific person. The prosecution service opened a probe into the matter but closed the case after being unable to establish that what appeared gold bars were indeed gold bars and whether the euro were real or fake.  

Asked by reporters whether he was summoned for questioning on account of the money photos, Borissov said that he had never possessed ingots "nor possessed anything at all". Asked whether he expected more interrogations, he said "it is going to be like this until I fall down".

Asked what questions the police put to him, Borissov said "how did I manage to keep people's incomes so high, how did I manage to keep the lowest prices of natural gas price and of electricity for years on end, how did I manage to get Bulgaria in the European banking union, how this country coped with migration the best in Europe".

Speaking to reporters in Parliament Rashkov said that Borissov should appear for questioning "to say whether or not there were wads of euro notes and gold bars in his nightstand". In Rashkov's words, it is normal to have Borissov questioned about the case. "Borissov should say who Mata Hari is, given that he claimed that the woman came in the room, placed the wads of money and gold bars in his nightstand, took the pictures and left, thereby fulfilling the aim of disgracing him". Rashkov also said that Borissov should assist the investigative authorities in tracking down Mata Hari and having her questioned about the case. The Interior Minister also said that Sevdelina Arnaoudova, who was Borissov's PR officer when he was prime minister, was questioned by the police on Thursday as well.