site.btaPresident Radev to Decide on Government’s Security Appointments by End-August

President Rumen Radev said that he will announce his decision by the end of the month on proposals submitted by the executive within the coordination procedure for appointments in the security sector, the President’s press service said here on Wednesday in connection with Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s remarks earlier on Wednesday that for months the only response to the Cabinet's letters with nominations had been that "the matter would be considered at a later stage".

This past Saturday, President Radev told journalists that effective interaction and dialogue between institutions is necessary, but it requires the government to emancipate itself from behind-the-scenes influences rather than legitimize them. His comment came in response to a question about institutional cooperation and the pending appointments of a Chairman of the State Agency for National Security, a Secretary General of the Interior Ministry, and ambassadors.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Council of Ministers approved the reappointment of Major General Emil Tonev as Chief of the National Service for Protection and President Rumen Radev decreed his reappointment. Tonev was first appointed to the post by presidential decree on July 28, 2020. On June 27, 2025, the President's Chief Secretary submitted a proposal for his reappointment.

At the start of the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced he would table Tonev's reappointment. He said the government was acting in the spirit of institutional cooperation on constitutional obligations concerning the militarized National Service for Protection, which is part of the Armed Forces and falls under the President's authority as Commander-in-Chief.