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The heads of the special services were heard by the deputies at a closed session of the external commission of the National Assembly, but refused to comment on leaving. PHOTO: Mityo Marinov
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The deputies deliberately misled, Atanas Atanasov suspected
Petkov now asks them only for operational information, not analyzes
Bulgarian special services have failed miserably in trying to predict the development of tensions between Russia and Ukraine in a full-scale war. However, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov seems to continue to trust them and insists on providing him with operational information. And
does not intend to resign for the time being
to the heads of SANS, intelligence and military intelligence, as insisted by his coalition partners from Democratic Bulgaria.
The inaccurate forecasts of the Bulgarian special services were announced on Wednesday by the co-chairman of the State Security and former head of counterintelligence Atanas Atanasov. He quoted the analysis presented by the services to the deputies at a closed session of the parliament in January.
Our forecasts are that no large-scale military conflict should be expected in the short term. (…)
A large-scale Russian offensive is unrealistic in the coming months. (…)
A full-scale military conflict should not be expected.
We do not share the assessment of a large-scale refugee wave.
These conclusions and forecasts for the development of the conflict at a time when Russia had already gathered more than 100 thousand troops near Ukraine, have heard the deputies from the secret services, quoted by Gen. Atanasov, who is Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.
Fourteen days ago, when the war broke out in Ukraine, he demanded a quick change of service chiefs, accusing them of providing false information and even lying to lawmakers. At the end of last week, the request for changes in the leadership of the special services was supported by the other co-chairman of the DB, Hristo Ivanov. He announced suspicions that
the Bulgarian services are under strong Russian influence
In addition, all chiefs have been appointed by Rumen Radev’s caretaker governments and are not working well with the current government, Ivanov explained.
The very first cabinet with Prime Minister Stefan Yanev replaced the heads of SANS, DAR and Military Intelligence.
On Tuesday, President Rumen Radev defended the heads of services.
“It is no coincidence that the heads of the security services are in office. You do not imagine that every new government or every new parliament should replace the security services. If this happens, it means that these services work for the government, but not for Bulgaria. Especially in the field of corruption. These are mandated positions, they are proposed by a decision of the Council of Ministers, and the decree is signed by the President. That is why the legislator has provided for this separation of powers. It is not accidental “, Radev answered the demands of the coalition partner. And he was adamant: “I will not want resignations.”
However, the mandates of all old heads of service were prematurely terminated by caretaker governments in the summer of 2021.
The information submitted by the special services to the government,
it is not always correct, accused Atanas Atanasov yesterday.
“In this situation, it is good for the Bulgarian services to act in coordination, but in order to be able to make the right decisions at a high state level, it is important that the Council of Ministers and other bodies receive reliable information from the security services,” he said. do not use reliable sources, or what they shared with the National Assembly was misleading.
In order to clarify the truth and change the work of the intelligence agencies, the DB said it would seek answers through parliamentary scrutiny.
“Yesterday I do not know on what occasion Rumen Radev said full support for the services. Maybe because the current bosses are his appointments, but according to Art. 105, para. 2 of the Constitution, the Council of Ministers is the one that ensures the public order and security of the country “, Atanasov commented on the words of the President from the previous day.
He also said that our services described as exaggerated the statements of heads of state a month ago, in which they warned that after the Winter Olympics, Russia will invade Ukraine.
For the time being, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov is also showing confidence in the special services. On Wednesday, he convened the Security Council of the Council of Ministers, to which the heads of SANS Plamen Tonchev, DAR Antoan Gechev and military intelligence Venelin Venev were also invited. The Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov and the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Petar Todorov also took part.
After the meeting, none of the heads of services wanted to comment on the accusations made against them by Gen. Atanasov.
“Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, for his part, called on the security services to continue to provide operational information,” was part of a concise statement from the government’s press service.
It does not mention that intelligence services have requested analysis, although the council has discussed possible risks due to the war in Ukraine.
“Bulgarian special services have their role in NATO and
obtain good information
It is possible that there is an inaccurate interpretation of this information “, commented the topic and the Minister of Defense Dragomir Zakov in an interview with BNT last night.
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