Prime Minister Denkov Challenges President Radev: Who Controls National Security?

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov has issued a robust response to President Rumen Radev's recent comments regarding the call for the resignation of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) chairman. Denkov contended that the appointment of service heads primarily rests with the president, a practice carried out through his caretaker governments. He implied that if the term "takeover of services" were to be employed, the president might be the one overseeing it.

Furthermore, Denkov emphasized that his decision to request the change in the leadership of SANS stems from significant reasons. The primary issue revolved around the absence of electronic voting machines during the first round of elections. This absence led to a decline in public trust in the electoral process, resulting in an unusually high number of invalid ballots. Denkov laid blame for this situation on one deputy director within SANS.

The prime minister highlighted the steps taken by this particular deputy director, whose actions he believes greatly contributed to the decline of confidence in the use of electronic voting machines. Two specific methods were cited: the creation of a memo containing false and manipulative information and the subsequent distribution of this memo, despite it being unclassified. According to Denkov, this unclassified distribution violated the Classified Information Act and led to the memo's widespread access.

Denkov argued that the proper course of action for the deputy director should have involved a thorough assessment of the information, followed by distribution solely to those individuals responsible for deciding whether the information should be made widely available. He maintained that this was not executed, and the deputy chairman of SANS bore responsibility for these actions.

Moreover, Denkov underscored the gravity of the situation, where the deputy director's actions posed a direct threat to national security. Problems with the electoral process, in Denkov's view, equate to national security concerns. He questioned President Radev's continued support for the SANS leadership and its involvement in these actions.

Denkov ended by urging the president to consider how they would work with the current leadership of SANS, which he believes is a threat to national security. He also inquired if the president was willing to take responsibility for national security issues, given the reported violations of the Classified Information Act by SANS' deputy director, as confirmed by the State Commission on Information Security.

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