site.btaDB Chair Atanassov: Bulgaria Obtains Intel from Foreign Services, Not from Its Own

Democratic Bulgaria Chair Atanas Atanassov told reporters here on Thursday that it is thanks to foreign intelligence services that Bulgaria has intel, since Bulgaria's national services either lack information or choose to withhold it.

Atanassov said: " They work outside the country, and it happens that we have received much more information from the two intelligence services about the activities of the Russian services in Bulgaria than from the counterintelligence, whose main job is this."

The heads of the State Agency for National Security (SANS), State Intelligence Agency (SIA), and the Defence Intelligence Service were heard in Parliament on the existence of evidence, including from journalistic investigations, of special operations, including disinformation operations, conducted by the Russian intelligence services against Bulgaria, and the actions taken to counter and prevent these operations.

According to Atanassov, a gentle approach should be employed with the newly appointed acting Chair of SANS, Denyo Denev, even though he already held the position of deputy chairperson at the Agency.

In late May, Plamen Tonchev was dismissed as SANS Chair and was elected to head the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to the State Security and intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army, commonly known as the secret police files committee.

In Atanassov's words, "One after another espionage scandals are breaking out, but all this has been uncovered by foreign services." He asked what kind of activity the Bulgarian counterintelligence has developed, especially when it comes to Russia, given that the Kremlin has declared Bulgaria an enemy state and there is a war in Ukraine. "I also asked how many pre-trial proceedings for espionage have been initiated, and it turns out that Bulgaria has initiated an investigation into the London spy scandal," Atanassov added.