Police detain Bulgaria's former PM Borissov in blackmail investigation

FILE PHOTO: Former Bulgarian Prime Minister and leader of centre-right GERB party Boyko Borissov leaves in his car after casting his vote at a polling station, during parliamentary and presidential elections, in Sofia, Bulgaria, November 14, 2021. REUTERS/Spasiyana Sergieva

SOFIA (Reuters) - Police in Bulgaria have detained former prime minister Boyko Borissov as part of an investigation into alleged blackmail dating back to 2014-2019, prosecutors said on Friday.

The decade-long rule of Borissov, 62, ended last spring when he lost an election that showed popular anger over high-level corruption in the European Union's poorest member state. He remains leader of centre-right GERB, the largest opposition party.