site.btaSecurity Council with Cabinet to Hold Meeting Friday on Skripal Case

Sofia, March 29 (BTA) - The Security Council with the government will hold a meeting Friday to discuss the case with the Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and hear Bulgarian Ambassador in Russia Boiko Kotsev.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov recalled Kotsev for consultations with the government.

The Security Council is chaired by the Prime Minister. The council consists of cabinet members, the heads of the special services, and a representative of the President.

Speaking in the corridors of the National Assembly Thursday, GERB floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that "Bulgaria should show solidarity with Britain and the developed democracies".

Tsvetanov argued that GERB, as a Euro-Atlantic party, "should make a decision based on the current geopolitics".

Tsvetanov said, approached by a reporter, that "solidarity in words is not enough; there should be acts, but these are fully a prerogative of the executive power".

Approached about what signal Bulgaria is giving by its decision to recall Kotsev for consultations, President Rumen Radev said on Wednesday that this decision is within the Government's powers and it must provide motives for its actions. "This is a step that has not been coordinated with me," Radev said. Solidarity is an important principle, but it must not be blind, he commented, adding that such a serious case warrants indisputable evidence.

Tsvetanov said he did not see "drama" in the different position of Ataka - part of the power-sharing United Patriots coalition, and the possibility of the party's leaving power if Russian diplomats are expelled from Bulgaria. Tsvetanov said he had spoken with the United Patriots, and has the support of some of them on the case in hand. He expects that the coalition council will have a meeting soon.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament, Ataka leader and United Patriots floor leader Volen Siderov urged for holding a coalition council between GERB and the United Patriots. "Bulgaria should pursue a balanced conduct in the case," Siderov said, adding that no diplomatic moves should be made that interrupt relations with any country.

In response to Tsvetanov's words, Siderov said that Bulgaria should have a balanced policy, "no abrupt moves should be made, nor Russian diplomats should be expelled". "These talks about solidarity as if a natural cataclysm has struck must stop," he said, noting that there are no proofs about Russia's involvement in the case.

"So far, the Prime Minister's position and policy has been very correct and proper. I am certain and strongly hope that Borissov will not make such a wrong move to expel Russian diplomats," Siderov said.

The parliamentary group of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) again asked for Borissov to be invited to inform the MPs about the development of the situation with the diplomatic crisis between the EU and Russia, secretary of the BSP parliamentary group and former foreign minister Krisian Vigenin said in the plenary chamber.