site.btaUPDATED President Radev Rejects Cabinet's Counterintelligence Chief Nominee

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said here on Wednesday that he had sent a written refusal to a proposal by the Government to decree the appointment of Denyo Denev as chairperson of the State Agency for National Security (SANS).

"I have completed the consultation procedure with the Cabinet," the head of State added.

Denev, who is now acting SANS Chair, was nominated for the office in early September, when the Government asked Radev to issue a decree on his appointment.

"Today's refusal of President Radev to decree the appointment of a SANS chair will entail harmful consequences for the functioning of the security sector," opposition MP Atanas Atanassov of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria reacted in a Facebook post. "This political confrontation between the two centres of power in the State for the purpose of reaping private dividends from control of the special services is disastrous for the country's national security," Atanassov commented.