site.btaUPDATED Breakaway CC-DB MP Radostin Vasilev Reveals Alleged Recording of Party's National Council Meeting

At a BTA-hosted news conference here on Friday, Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP Radostin Vasilev made public a recording which he claims was made at an online meeting of CC’s National Council on May 21.

The voices in the recording resemble those of CC Co-leaders Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev.

Kiril Petkov said on Thursday evening that CC-DB politicians had been wiretapped during working meetings in Parliament and in their offices. Petkov described Vasilev as an "emotionally unstable politician" and "an instrument of the captured state and secret services". Petkov noted that the recordings consist of carefully selected and pieced together words and expressions, taken out of context, in order to insinuate manipulations. Petkov quoted some of the recordings, which he said Radostin Vasilev will release on Friday. “We see parts and expressions which are true, but have been patched together in such a way as to twist their meaning,” Petkov said.  

The recording released by Vasilev implies that there is an understanding to replace the heads of the special services and “the names are to be cleared with the embassy”. There are also allegations about meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel to discuss how Bulgaria can join Schengen and circumvent the eurozone entry rules. 

Vasilev said the recording has not been doctored and the whole five-hours of the National Council meeting will be available to the media. 

Radostin Vasilev also said that he was leaving the CC-DB Parliamentary Group and will not support a government formed on the second mandate between CC-DB and GERB-UDF. 

According to Vasilev, a joint government between CC-DB and GERB-UDF would betray a large part of the voters who placed their trust in CC. He described the efforts to form a cabinet on a rotating basis as "a dance between the two largest political forces in Parliament which has turned into an embrace based on interests". "CC does not care about their supporters’ wishes but only about consuming the executive power at any cost," Vasilev said.

"We supported Kiril Petkov after we left TISP with two main demands: to carry on the anti-corruption policy and never be with GERB," Vasilev said. He accused Petkov of lying, having first said that there would be no coalition with GERB and that no GERB representatives would be allowed into the cabinet, but now there will be a prime minister from GERB and likely ministers as well. 

Vasilev said he will remain in Parliament so that he can "shed light on this nastiness". He also said that he got a phone call on Thursday from State Agency for National Security President Plamen Tonchev, who told him there was information from the highest level source about a threat against Vasilev and was assigning him security detail.

GERB leader Boyko Borissov commented on the subject in Parliament earlier on Friday, saying that Bulgaria has become "a country of wiretaps", the aim being to prevent the formation of a regular cabinet.

Democratic Bulgaria (DB) co-leader Hristo Ivanov told journalists in Parliament that the idea was obviously to wreck the coalition. "The idea is to throw the country into yet another round of elections, which will not solve anything". Ivanov said he was firmly convinced that a regular government was needed despite the difficulties associated with forming it. "This obviously comes with very difficult discussions, which can be presented easily in many ways," he said, adding that they will continue to work on forming a cabinet. 

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Korneliya Ninova described the recordings as being about "renouncing national sovereignty", a "pinnacle of the parallel state and backstage machinations, which have taken over Bulgaria for years now and about secret deals."

There Is Such a People (TISP) MP Toshko Yordanov commented in Parliament, describing the recordings as "a demonstration of what a deep state is". "The secret services in this country are coordinated and approved by foreign embassies, which is national betrayal, and those who do it can face up to 15 years behind bars," he added.  

Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said his Parliamentary Group will alert the Prosecutor General and ask for verifying the authenticity of the recordings and for investigating and charging the persons mentioned in them. According to Kostadinov, the recording contains information about a crime against the Republic.