site.btaGovernment Nominates New Intelligence Chief, Appoints New Deputy Head of National Security Agency

On the photo: outgoing SAR head Atanas Atanassov (BTA Photo)

Sofia, June 16 (BTA) - Bulgaria's caretaker Cabinet has proposed
 to President Rumen Radev to replace Atanas Atanassov by Antoan
Gechev as Chairperson of the State Intelligence Agency (SAR),
Government Spokesperson Anton Koutev told journalists on
Wednesday.

Atanassov's departure is prompted by his Agency's "failure to
act in compliance with the presumption of objectivity,
impartiality and political neutrality". There are facts showing
that, contrary to the law, the briefs submitted to the President
 and the Prime Minister have differed in extent and content,
Koutev pointed out.

After the caretaker Cabinet took office on May 12, it emerged
that Atanassov had taken a four-month leave, from May 7 to
September 5. He was summoned to a meeting with Prime Minister
Stefan Yanev together with the then Chairperson of the State
Agency for National Security Dimitar Georgiev, but the meeting
did not take place. Atanassov requested that his leave be cut
short but has now been put up for dismissal.

Later in the day, Atanassov told journalists that the main
reason behind his removal was "the long arm of the Kremlin". In
his opinion, the leadership of the Bulgarian special services
has been replaced above all because they have been "working
successfully against the Russian special services". He also
suspects "coordinated actions with a businessman under numerous
charges, which may have been taken together with the Kremlin".
Atanassov was apparently referring to gambling mogul Vassil
Bojkov, who faces 19 criminal charges in Bulgaria and is hiding
from justice in Dubai. The US Treasury Department recently
stated that Bojkov planned to create a channel for Russian
political leaders to influence Bulgarian government officials.

"All reasons for my dismissal do not correspond to the truth. I
worked for Bulgaria in the course of 27 years, under numerous
governments, and the Borissov Cabinet is just one of them," the
outgoing SAR head said, adding that he had a "profoundly
personal" reason for going on leave.

Also on Wednesday, the Cabinet, acting on a proposal by SANS
Chairperson Plamen Tonchev, decided to appoint Stanislav
Stanchev as deputy chairperson of SANS for the remainder of the
five-year term of Nedyalko Nedyalkov (until July 25, 2023),
Koutev said.

Nedyalkov was dismissed on May 28. Shortly after that it emerged
 that in 2019 he cancelled the clearance for access to
classified information of incumbent Interior Minister Boyko
Rashkov, who was then a lecturer at the University of National
and World Economy, because of unauthorized disclosure of such
data. NV/LG