Special Services Heads appear in Parliament to Discuss Audio Recording Controversy

At an extraordinary meeting, the deputies listen to the heads of the departments. The occasion is the audio recording of an online meeting of “We continue the change” distributed by Radostin Vassilev.

The chairman of the National Security State Agency, the director of the Military Intelligence Service, as well as the chairman of the State Intelligence Agency will appear in parliament.

The hearing is at the request of “Vazrazhdane”. The party also filed a report with the city prosecutor’s office about a possible crime committed under Chapter One of the Criminal Code – for a crime against the republic.

On Monday, the State Prosecutor’s Office announced that DANS had been ordered to carry out an investigation and then it would be assessed whether a crime had been committed.

On Tuesday, the parliamentary control will be held, which the National Assembly did not reach last Friday. Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, as well as ministers Rositsa Velkova-Zheleva, Nayden Todorov, Ivan Shishkov, Sasho Penov, Nikola Stoyanov, Rositsa Karamfilova-Blagova and Vesela Lecheva, will answer questions from MPs.

Atanas Atanasov: The NATO Security Service can revoke access

The co-chairman of the PP-DB group Atanas Atanasov reminded the deputies that the procedure for granting access to classified information is not carried out only in Bulgaria. This means that partner services can intervene in certain cases.

“There are two cases in which access to classified information was denied by the NATO security service. After that, officials were recalled,” Atanasov said, adding: “If the person is unreliable from the point of view of the NATO security service, then the person is not gets access”.

In response to the claims that the Western services trust the Bulgarians, he said: “Do you remember what our services explained two days before the start of the war in Ukraine – that there will be no war. They trust them so much that they do not have this information was submitted”.

According to the PP-DB, there is currently an “overall campaign to discredit the second most powerful party in the country and to fail the formation of a government with the second mandate”.

A prime minister’s adviser is under investigation for coordinating state positions with a Macedonian

The head of DANS, Plamen Tonchev, announced in response to a question from “Vazrazhdane” that there is a pre-trial proceeding related to coordinating the positions of the Bulgarian state with a citizen of North Macedonia.

“A case has been established in which an adviser to the Prime Minister coordinated the positions of the state with a citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia. Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated in the case,” said Plamen Tonchev.

He did not specify the details of which prime minister he was talking about, nor for what period, nor did he say who the adviser was. Toshko Yordanov from ITN directly mentioned the name of Vesela Cherneva.

In response to ITN’s questions, Tonchev said that the National Security Agency conducts measures to verify the case of the leaked recording after being assigned by the supervising prosecutor. After that, Radostin Vassilev took the floor, who directly asked the head of DANS if there were foreign agents among the ministers and deputies.

“The behavior of some ministers in the regular cabinet definitely did not protect the national interest,” said Tonchev, but without explaining why he thought so. Tonchev returned again to the pre-trial proceedings against the prime minister’s adviser: “Everyone knows that the actions of this person were not carried out without the consent of his superior.”

The Chief of Intelligence: It used to be that intelligence was only done from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Years ago, intelligence was conducted from 9 to 5, only on working days. On holidays and working days, there was only security in the agency. This was said by the head of the State Intelligence Agency, Antoine Gechev. He said that before that information was thrown away across all DAR departments, and officials did not speak to each other.”International cooperation was also dismissed in a completely illogical way,” explained the DAR chief.

“DAR does not belong to President Radev, it does not belong to any political party. There are no requirements anywhere for coordination with foreign embassies and international organizations. No one officially or unofficially expressed a desire to coordinate sovereign national decisions,” Gechev said.

He reminded that trust in the state also depends on the actions of the people’s representatives, the government and the presidency.

The head of “Military Intelligence”: I had to reassure officials

“We cannot comment on the actions and inactions of political entities and objects. Parliament is part of the chain of command of the state,” said Brigadier General. Venelin Venev, who is the director of the Military Intelligence Service.

“NATO’s trust with us is there,” said Gen. Venev. He explained that such cases affect the emotional state of employees, which demotivates them.

“There are people who measure radiation four times a day in Ukraine so you know whether to put on gas masks and go to bomb shelters, people in the Western Balkans and other places. They are far from Bulgaria and take things more emotionally, motivation drops and we must reassure them – them and their families’, said General Venev.

He explained that the Military Information Service had received permission from NATO partners to declassify information about what would happen just before the war in Ukraine and in the first months after it broke out.

Plamen Tonchev (DANS): I want to protect the dignity of employees

“I am here to protect the dignity of DANS employees,” said the head of DANS Plamen Tonchev. He was the first of the heads of the special services to speak from the parliamentary rostrum.

He first said that the procedure for the appointment of the head of the National Security Service takes place entirely within Bulgaria. “There is no requirement for coordination with foreign missions in any law. It is not true that there is any requirement for coordination for access to secret information,” Tonchev said and added that the Bulgarian services also do not coordinate the appointments of foreign partner services in the EU and NATO .

“I can safely say that DANS is a reliable and sought-after partner by partner services in the EU and NATO. We are represented in absolutely all partner formats,” said Tonchev.

He commented that he did not know what the allegations of Russian infiltration of DANS were due to. “This is a narrative that is convenient for someone, but I don’t think it should be done on the back of the Bulgarian services,” he explained.

At the same time, he recalled the actions of DANS on internal cleansing of employees who are suspected of working in the service of Russian intelligence. Now these people are accused by the prosecutor’s office.

“Unproven allegations lead to reputational damage for the state,” said Tonchev and added that “attempts to divide society are part of hybrid operations, including Moscow’s.”

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