Prime Minister Boiko M. Borisov. Mr. Borisov, a square-jawed former bodyguard

.... poor Balkan nation, which has had an estimated 191 known contract killings since 1992, according to a list compiled by the Center for the Study of Democracy in Sofia.
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Today, they can be seen driving around Sofia, the capital, in their oversized sport utility vehicles and Lamborghinis. Investigators say they have infiltrated sectors from insurance to tourism to construction. Known by nicknames like the Beret or the Beak, they linger in nightclubs like Sin City and Lipstick and listen to Chalga, Turkish-infused Bulgarian folk music sung by scantily clad young women.
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The roots of the mutri go back to the Cold War when members were recruited from wrestling, boxing and other sports clubs by the Communist regime to serve as armed vigilantes and secret agents. During the power vacuum that followed the collapse of Communism, they transformed themselves into a powerful underground network of traffickers, racketeers and crime bosses.
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In 2008, it became the first member of the Union to see some of its E.U. aid frozen because of concerns that billions of euros in grants could be siphoned off by organized crime.
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Meanwhile, Bulgaria, a country of seven million people that is a member of the European Union and NATO, has been ranked by Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog group based in Berlin, as among the most corrupt countries in the European Union.
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Mr. Borisov faces a daunting challenge. In the past two decades, only a handful of crime bosses have been jailed, while not a single senior government official accused of involvement in high-level corruption has been convicted.