Iliana Yotova, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), has been linked to a public relations company which provided her with personal publicity and positive campaigning on social media while at the same time criticizing European Union Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.

European Parliament Building

Correspondence between Yotova and Leadway Media Solutions was published on Balkanleaks on Thursday in which Aneta Avramova, an official in the company, offers Yotova a service package which includes 50 comments in Internet forums, 150 comments on Facebook and 50 tweets, as well as 15 press publications per month.

The campaign includes both comments that praise Yotova and many that are openly critical of Bulgarian commissioner for humanitarian action, Kristalina Georgieva, reports Bivol.

EurActive, a website that reports European Union news and holds policy debates, reports that Yotova has recently criticized Georgieva for “not doing enough” to help Sofia deal with Syrian refugees seeking shelter in Bulgaria. In just a few months, some 11,000 Syrian asylum seekers have arrived in Bulgaria, which as one of the poorest countries of the EU is ill equipped to deal with refugees.

Socialist and Democrat MEPs have defended Georgieva from these attacks, which they say are politically motivated. The documents published show no proof that Yotova has paid Leadway Media Solutions.

The leaks shed light on the issue of ‘internet trolls’ hired by politicians to help influence public opinion on social media and to publish paid articles that portray them in a positive way.

Jivko Georgiev, a sociologist, said that scandals like this can depress voter turnout for the European elections, between the 22 and 25th of May this year.

Correction: an earlier version of this story referred to Iliana Yotova as "Liliana Lotova"