site.btaConsultative Council under President Discusses National Security Risks, Measures Needed to Strengthen Security

120 POLITICS - NATIONAL SECURITY - CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL amplified

Consultative Council under President
Discusses National Security Risks,
Measures Needed to Strengthen Security


Sofia, May 30 (BTA) - The participants in the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) under the President Tuesday decided that the National Security Strategy and the regulatory framework of the structure and functioning of the national security protection system and the state bodies and entities included in it will be updated and upgraded before the end of 2017. The Council's decision were announced by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev after the nearly four-hour meeting which had on its agenda the risks to Bulgaria's national security and the action needed to strengthen it.

"The participants in the CCNS concurred on the need of assigning top priority to the Security Sector personnel, on the measures necessary to fully man the sector, to increase the motivation and upgrade the prestige of its personnel, and to provide adequate opportunities for career and professional growth," said the President.

This was the first CCNS meeting that Radev has convened since taking office in January 2017. The CCNS consists of the Chairperson of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the ministers of defence, interior, foreign affairs and finance, the Chief of Defence, and the floor leaders of parliamentary groups.

The head of State pointed out that the relevant capabilities cannot possibly be acquired without going ahead with the modernization projects. The participants in the Council agreed that to-the-point plans will be drawn up by June 30 for accelerated implementation of the modernization projects and for maintenance of the existing materiel, armament and equipment until the end of their service life and replacement by new models. A national plan for reaching the defence spending target of 2 per cent of GDP by 2024 will be prepared until the end of this year.

The CCNS decided that the regulatory framework on the prevention of external intervention in the country's internal affairs also needs updating and improvement.

The Council proposed that an analysis and proposal for integrated development of the Security Sector be ready by June 20, along with a resource allocation by state body and entity over the next five years. "It is crucial that we put all resources on the table, to reassess the deficit of capabilities and to allocate resources effectively among the separate elements of the national security system," the President pointed out.

Another analysis and proposal that must be prepared is for participation of the Bulgarian defence industry in the development of the Security Sector. Radev noted that this industry must benefit from the costs that will be incurred on defence and needs to be supported. "It is important to formulate proactively industrial cooperation programmes which must be an important part of the modernization projects, and that these programme help implement new high technologies and create new jobs in our defence industry," the President argued.

He thanked all particulars for taking a responsible approach and for being constructive in reaching a consensus.

According to Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the projects for all three armed services must make progress and modernization of the Air Force as well as of the Land Forces and the Navy should be made possible.

Asked after the CCNC meeting whether he and the President had ironed out their differences regarding the jet fighters, Borissov answered that they had no differences whatsoever.

The question was prompted by a recent statement by Borissov who said that it is a matter of calculations to see whether the time is right now to purchase new fighter aircraft for the Bulgarian Air Force or to consider instead the
needs of the Land Forces and the Navy. Radev reacted by criticizing Borissov for frequently changing his mind about Armed Forces modernization.

In April, a working group concluded that out of three offers from potential suppliers of eight new jet fighters, for which 1,500 million leva have been allocated, Gripen, made by Sweden's Saab company, was the best option, followed by used F-16 from Portugal and used Eurofighter from Italy. Contrary to expectations, the then caretaker cabinet decided to leave to its elected successor government to ask Parliament for a mandate to start talks with Saab.

Radev and the GERB Party led by Prime Minister-designate Borissov apparently clashed over that choice, too. In 2012, the Defence Ministry was a step away from purchasing F-16s from Portugal, and only the premature resignation of the first Borissov Cabinet prevented a finalization of the deal. In April 2017, former deputy defence minister Valentin Radev of GERB accused the caretaker cabinet of trying to predetermine the outcome of the bidding procedure under pressure from the President. On April 28, Rumen Radev warned Borissov's future government that unless it confirmed the caretaker cabinet's choice of Gripen, it would "trample on the military technological expert conclusions if it adopts a different politically motivated decision."

Replying to a question, on Tuesday Borissov stressed the importance of infantry in combat operations. "We have no differences at all with the President about the need of new aircraft, new tanks, new armoured personnel carriers and everything else," the PM noted. He explained that this was the reason why he wanted to see the caretaker cabinet's decision about the aircraft. "Now the colleagues will hold negotiations and the only task they will get from me is to make sure that we pay by installments over the next 15-20 years, just like Hungary," Borissov said. "In this way, we will be able to modernize not only the Air Force but the Land Forces and the Navy as well. All armed services need it. We are of one mind on the matter," he added.

He reiterrated that all three armed services must be placed on an equal footing and that the spending must be spaced out in smaller portions over a longer period of time, so that all projects could make progress.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov also commented on the shared opinion that the three modernization projects should run simultaneously. "It makes no sense to provide new equipment for two service components only and leave the Land Forces lagging behind," he argued.

Asked whether financial resources are available for all three projects, the Defence Minister said that the funding which the previous Parliament approved can finance all three and it is a matter of negotiations to set the schedule and installments that will make this possible.

According to Borissov, the Bulgarian defence industry is booming. "It has the longest order book in 30 years," he said. The PM argued that the important thing now is to use domestically manufactured innovations, "terrific projects designed by the scientists of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences", as he put it, in Armed Forces modernization.

He added that the State will be allocating enormous resources for defence until 2024 and this will generate jobs.

On another issue, the Prime Minister said he is in favour of declassifying the transcript of a 2014 meeting with President Rosen Plevneliev on the then bank crisis. "The thing is that if this becomes a practice, we'd rather allow the press to attend the meetings of the Consultative Council on National Security," he said. He added that this was also the reason why Plevneliev refused to declassify the verbatim record.

Plevneliev had repeatedly refused to release the transcript of the discussions at that CCNS meeting, and President Radev did so initially, too, until a court recently ordered the authorities to make public the verbatim record of the meeting held just before Corpbank suspended operations.

By law, the CCNS holds its meetings behind closed doors.

Borissov was also asked by reporters whether the special services have up-to-date information about the exact number of employees of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) who are currently working in Bulgaria. He said that the State Agency for National Security has prepared a report on the issue. "This is why Parliament will adopt a bill on religious denominations. It is only right that the State should take care of the education of clerics. We have to do this for the imams, just like we have a seminary for Christian priests," he said.

There has been a longstanding debate on whether or not the State should pay for religious education in Islam, considering that the traditional religion in Bulgaria is Christianity.

Muslim schools in Bulgaria receive some 3 million leva a year from the Diyanet in keeping with a 1999 agreement between the governments of Bulgaria and Turkey. The Bulgarian Education Ministry does not provide financing for Muslim schools. The leadership of the Muslim denomination in Bulgaria is entitled to a state subsidy, but it is intended mostly for the upkeep of mosques.

Emerging from the meeting of the CCNS, Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Kornelia Ninova said that her party will make sure the Government fulfills the decisions adopted by the Consultative Council. "Some of the deadlines are very tight, until the end of June, and there is no time to waste. We will monitor the implementation of the decisions."

Commenting on the decision to update the National Security Strategy, she said that a proposed update catalogued internal threats to national security such as contraband trade, aggravating health care and education system, illiteracy and conventional crime, but she heard none of this during the meeting Tuesday. "I am telling Borissov's Government now that this is unacceptable to us. In addition to the external threats, we also have very serious internal problems," Ninova argued.