Rumen Radev noted that over the past 10 years, the Bulgarian security services have been silent about many serious violations committed by politicians
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said on Saturday that it was necessary to change the heads of the special services in connection with the scandal of wiretapping of politicians of opposition parties on the eve of the elections to the People’s Assembly (Parliament) countries on April 4. The statement of the head of state was broadcast by the leading Bulgarian TV channels.
“Every wiretap signal must be checked. The question, however, is that the same people who organized and conducted these wiretaps should check themselves. That is why personnel changes are needed, “ Radev said.
Answering questions from journalists, the President noted that over the past 10 years, the Bulgarian special services have been silent about many serious violations committed by politicians who were in power.
Spy scandal
In an official statement on behalf of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, its deputy chairman Daniel Mitov suggested that the wiretapping scandal was the president’s response to the spy scandal when the special services allegedly uncovered a “Russian spy network”.
“Recently, the special services were given a high rating due to the espionage scandal with Russia. Obviously, President Radev and Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov cannot forgive the services for breaking up the Russian spy network. Our assessment is that the attacks on the special services are precise because of this,” Mitov said.
“Where were the critics when their government, which was responsible for organizing and controlling the protection of classified information, allowed not one but five Bulgarian officers to be penetrated (recruited) by foreign services. Why were they silent about the BGN 3 billion (about €1.5 billion) spent on the [Turkish Stream] gas pipeline? And the Prime Minister [Boyko] Borisov has not made an interconnector with Greece in 10 years, and we now have no real diversification, “ Radev asked, speaking to reporters. He concluded that at present “members of the GERB party defend the compromised prime Minister and fall into the abyss of his moral shame.”
Chronicle of events
The scandal of wiretapping of opposition politicians began on Friday, when Atanas Atanasov, deputy chairman of the Democratic Bulgaria party, reported that “dozens of politicians of opposition parties were illegally wiretapped.” Later, the information was confirmed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs of the technical government of the country Boyko Rashkov, and the prosecutor’s office announced the start of checking the scandalous information.
On March 19, the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office announced that six former and current employees of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense and military intelligence were detained on suspicion of spying for the Russian Federation. Audio recordings and video materials obtained using special means were presented at the briefing. According to the prosecutor’s office, they are evidence of the illegal actions of the detainees. The prosecutor’s office noted that the group was discovered with the help of the special services of the European Union and the United States.
