site.btaUPDATED President Sees No Grounds for Convening Consultative Security Council

"I have not found any grounds so far to convene the Consultative Council for National Security," President Iliana Iotova told journalists after attending an official ceremony at the foot of the Shipka Monument, where the 149th anniversary of the Battle of Shipka will be observed.

Iotova was commenting on calls from some political forces for such a council to be convened because of a potential threat to Bezmer Air Base.

The President noted that the aircraft that had been stationed at Bezmer Air Base had departed. "I think that, at this stage, this mission has been completed," Iotova added.

She said that she was not generalizing based on the reactions of all the political parties that had commented on the issue and that she was listening very carefully to the rational arguments put forward by some of them.

"I ask myself why they did not call for a Consultative Council in February 2026, when 15 aircraft were deployed at Sofia Airport with the authorization of the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov, without the presidential institution being informed at all," Iotova said.

"Today they are calling for a Consultative Council at a time when the presidential institution is in full communication and coordination with all other institutions - with the Council of Ministers, with the Security Council, in which we participate, with the security services, and with our international partners," Iotova added.

She also noted that a large majority had voted to remove the security services from the authority of the President, and that those who had voted in favour of the decision now appeared to be dissatisfied with it.

"They have every opportunity to review all the reports from the security services, since they are leaders of parliamentary parties, if they are looking for such information," the President said.

She added that she had not used national security for propaganda or political maneuvering in February, when, according to her, the then caretaker defence minister acknowledged that these aircraft had different capabilities and different purposes in Bulgaria, and that she would not do so now either.

Iotova urged all responsible political forces, regardless of the fact that an election period is approaching, to seek consensus on issues concerning Bulgaria’s security and stability.

"For me, using the country’s national security for propaganda and partisan purposes, in pursuit of questionable political gains, is a betrayal of the country," the President said.