Prime Minister Denkov: No immediate threat to Bulgaria
There is no immediate threat to Bulgaria, except for sites connected to Israel, such as embassies, synagogues, tourist groups, where attention must be paid, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said on October 12 after attending two successive meetings involving heads of security services and political leaders.
An October 11 “consultative meeting” was convened by President Roumen Radev to which leaders of political parties represented were not invited, and on October 12, there was a meeting of Parliament’s presiding officers and parliamentary group leaders with security chiefs for a briefing on the security situation in the context of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
Denkov said that the government had already taken steps to enhance security at key sites that are high-risk, such as railway stations, ports and airports.
He said that a refugee wave was possible in the future, but not the immediate future, and currently the flow was not towards Bulgaria but towards other countries.
We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group co-leader Kiril Petkov criticised the State Agency for National Security (SANS), saying after the October 12 meeting “I think I learned more yesterday from CNN than from their report”.
Some services, such as the Military Intelligence Service, had done well, Petkov said.
That there were two separate meetings was a consequence of a decision by Radev to hold a “consultative meeting” rather than, as is the prerogative of the head of state, convening the Consultative Council on National Security, which involves key members of the government, security, intelligence and defence chiefs and representatives of parliamentary groups.
Apart from the parliamentary group leaders who were not invited to Radev’s meeting, the interior and defence ministers were invited, but did not attend.
Radev has said that he did not want “amateurs” in a meeting with the security chiefs. He opposes the ambition of WCC-DB to restructure the security services and replace their leaders.
Denkov is to hold a meeting of the Cabinet security council on October 17.
Speaking after the October 11 meeting, Denkov said that the main conclusion of the meeting was that institutions must work together to make Bulgaria even safer for the people who live in the country.
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