It is Fake News that Bulgaria is Linked to Exploding Devices in Lebanon

Multiple fake news articles continously appear throughout the web that Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, has connections to the heart-breaking events in Lebanon.

International investigators have ruled out the possibility of explosive devices being transported through Bulgaria. Experts say that Bulgarian connection to this event is fake news.

In a statement released by the Bulgarian authorities and National Security State Agency, is stated that  ‘After thorough internal investigations, no customs procedures involving communication devices (pagers) have been processed through Bulgarian territory.’

Fake news have been traced back to a Hungarian news website which blames a Bulgarian company, called Norta Global Ltd, to have delivered the devices to Lebanon from Bulgaria. Meanwhile, Hungarian government authorities and private Hungarian media websites have been flagged by the West to have strong support for the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Victor Orban has been repeatedly accused of being the only supporter of the Russian aggression inside the EU.

The statement came in response to media reports suggesting that a company based in Bulgaria had supplied Hezbollah in Lebanon with the devices that later exploded in Lebanon and Syria.

The Sofia-based company in question, Norta Global Ltd., owned by a Norwegian citizen, has been manipulatively linked to the sale of these devices by the Hungarian media.

It is not the first time that Russian propaganda has been supported by third party members, in order to blame countries that support the Ukrainian defence.

Western investigators are currently conducting joint investigations with the National Revenue Agency and the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior into the possible involvement of a Bulgarian-registered company in supplying communication equipment to Hezbollah. No physical proof has been found that Bulgarian citizens are connected to the sale of the devices. However, there are numerous fake articles in the web on this topic.

Norta Global Ltd. was registered in April 2022 as a project management company. However, there is no evidence that the company manufactures products, and no financial records have been found. The company shares its registered address in downtown Sofia and it is currently non-operational. The owner of the company is the Norwegian citizen Rinson Jose, who also has a different company in Hungary.

Hezbollah received thousands of pagers as part of a move to create a more secure communication network. This distribution increased significantly after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah advised members to steer clear of cellphones, labeling them as tools of Israeli surveillance, and recommended pagers as a more secure option.

At the same time, walkie-talkies that detonated on Wednesday were acquired around the same time as the pagers, back in April. Icom Inc., a Japanese company that manufactures the handheld radios in question, stated that the models in question were discontinued about ten years ago. The company is currently investigating and confirmed on Thursday that their IC-V82 radios had been shipped to the Middle East between 2004 and 2014.

These unusual incidents, which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel, have left the Lebanese public in shock. According to the Saudi Al Hadath network, citing Iranian sources, many are now hastily discarding their wireless devices, as the walkie-talkies that exploded on Wednesday are also commonly used in Iran.