site.btaDemocratic Bulgaria Seeks Hearing on Reports of Russian Military Training in Bulgaria

Speaking to journalists in Parliament's lobby on Thursday, Democratic Bulgaria MP Ivaylo Mirchev said a story in The Telegraph daily with sources linked to Australian intelligence, says that Russian service persons were being trained by former military instructors from the special forces of the UK and Australia in the north-central Bulgarian village of Mezhdeni, Gabrovo Region. 

Mirchev said they would request a hearing at which the heads of counterintelligence, the State Agency for National Security and the State Intelligence Agency would report to Parliament on whether such information exists, when the matter was last investigated, and how it is possible for Russian military personnel to be trained for the war in Ukraine on EU territory and NATO's eastern flank. He added that there was nothing on the matter in the Bulgarian security services.

Democratic Bulgaria MP Atanas Atanassov said that they had disclosed information about a study by French magazine L'Express, based on interviews with 60 senior NATO intelligence officials who assessed the reliability of partner countries and Bulgarian services. "The Prime Minister says there will be radical changes in the services. We would like to see them," he added.

"In an interview with Bulgarian National Radio, Deputy Prime Minister Ivo Hristov said that public-service media included both professionals and propagandists. I do not know by what criteria he distinguishes them, but we can see that there is a purge at the Bulgarian National Television – two programmes have been taken off the air," Atanassov added, referring to Istoriya.BG [History.BG] and Svetat i Nie [The World and Us]. Democratic Bulgaria will seek information on the criteria used to remove prominent journalists from public-service media, he added.

On the nominations to fill the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), Democratic Bulgaria Deputy Floor Leader Bozhidar Bozhanov said they were currently reviewing the nominations put forward by Progressive Bulgaria, with the most important decision to be made after the hearings, when the candidates' positions become clear. "No talks for support have been held so far; there are no deals or prior arrangements," he said. Their aim is to see 11 of the most independent candidates elected, Bozhanov added.

"Some of the names mean something to us and are positive, while we are continuing to examine others. I believe it is important for Parliament to send a signal to the judiciary and the professional quota that will be elected that things are changing and that there will be no people in the SJC who simply answer the phone and follow orders from politicians," Bozhanov said.