site.btaCC Co-chair Assen Vassilev Stands behind Every Word of Leaked Recording

Continue the Change co-chair Assen Vassilev said that "there is not a single word on this recording that I would not stand behind". In a Nova TV interview, Vassilev called on the citizens to hear him out and see "there is no coalition, no agreements", only a difficult decision to accept a person from GERB in the government in order to move the country forward.

After CC-DB breakaway MP Radostin Vassilev released a controversial recording, which indicated an agreement to replace heads of the special services (State Agency National Security, National Security Service, etc.) with names that are "cleared with the embassy", the negotiations for a government between Mariya Gabriel and Nikolay Denkov were frozen.

Power is not an end in itself, Vassilev commented on Sunday. "If you listen to the tape, you will see that this is the main thing discussed in it - the power is so that basic things can be done for the country - the Eurozone, Schengen, cleaning up the justice system," he explained.

The entire "melodrama" that is currently developing is perhaps to gain some advantage around the negotiation process, the CC co-chairman specified.

"I noticed that certain parts of my speeches were cut from the recording, such as the one about the coordination of services or that changes should be made in the state administration. I stand behind my words," Vassilev said. 

He argued by referring to the law, that all national special services have to work with partner services in the EU and NATO. "They have to have access to that information, have the trust of those partner services, if we're going to be at all members of these unions," Vassilev stressed. He noted that it's not about "approving" the names, but "clearing" them. 

In response to a question regarding which heads of special services they would like to change, Vassilev answered: "Absolutely all offices in the state".

"We see at the moment how a policy of distancing Bulgaria from the EU and NATO is being carried out," Vassilev said and added that there is still a deep penetration of Russian interests into the Bulgarian security system and that it must be fought against.

In relation to possible compromises that would allow negotiations for a government to continue, Vassilev was adamant that "if the concessions are to unfreeze any negotiations, there should not be any. If the concessions are to do something useful for the country and they do not transgress what we have promised our voters, that is in the hands of Academician Denkov".

Vassilev said that CC-DB prime minister designate Nikolay Denkov is authorized to conduct the negotiations with GERB-UDF's Mariya Gabriel, so the two of them will continue when they can.