site.btaContinue the Change Co-Leader Says His Security Guards Were Appointed Due to Threat to His Life

Continue the Change (CC) Co-Chair Kiril Petkov said Saturday that a permanent police presence was assigned outside his home after a report of a threat against him. He stressed that his security guards were not appointed as an extension of CC's participation in the last regular government.

"I have read in recent days terrible speculations and I see that for many people there are no limits - everything is used for muddy political suggestions," he said. Petkov pointed out that he will not answer to the speculations, but "it is important for the public to know a few facts so that it is not fooled by embittered politicians."

"My guard was removed by the NSP in January 2023. Subsequently, the Interior Ministry received information of a direct threat to my life and an inter-ministerial committee, which included other agencies, appointed my security guards because of this threat. I know that because of the change of our Bulgaria that I am fighting for, I am also attracting many ill-wishers. My family is also aware of the risks I am taking. After this threat alert, a permanent police presence outside my home was also ordered. So this security is not at all a "perk" from the government and I do not wish anyone to be assigned security for such a reason. I'm not pretending to be a hero, it's just that the speculation on this topic has been horrific and I want people to know the truth," Petkov wrote.

On Thursday, Petkov was riding in a car of the National Service for Protection (NSP) which crashed at the entrance to the village of Aksakovo. Petkov's party said that the crash was caused by a car suddenly jumping out of a road without priority. A man and a woman in their 60s were riding in the vehicle. Later, the NSP reported that the driver of the other vehicle was seriously injured in the collision and subsequently died. The woman accompanying him is in hospital. Petkov and the driver of the NSP vehicle were not injured.

In his Facebook post on Saturday, Petkov said he wanted to share additional information regarding the unfortunate incident "as it is important that the public receives correct information".

"I have been in touch with the team that is caring for Krasimira [the driver's wife] and I am grateful to them for keeping me updated several times a day on her condition. For now, her situation is stable and we all hope that with God's help, she will continue to improve. I will continue to monitor her condition every day and will do everything in my power to help," Petkov explained.

He explained that at the time of the accident he was sitting in the back seat on the right, his required seating position by protocol. "I was on a video conference call with my team for nearly 40 minutes as the incident happened during that call. So I did not follow the traffic and did not see how it all happened. I described my next steps in detail in a previous post. I am very sorry for the loss of the driver's life and now I just hope that the quick response of the ambulance and fire department people, the people who immediately came to the rescue, lead to at least Krasimira's life being saved. Neither were we in a hurry for anything, nor were there instructions to hurry - another terrible media speculation," the CC Co-Chair added.

"Yesterday I saw another false information on some media that I had an accident in 2021 and [former interior minister Boyko] Rashkov had "covered" for me. A horror - lie after lie. In January 2020, long before I entered politics, in Sofia, I was in the position to take the right of way at an intersection, and a passing car hit me in the front bumper and knocked it off. There were no injuries, nor was it related to me as a politician, and no one 'covered' me for anything," Petkov wrote.

"I know it is an election campaign, and many politicians have gone absolutely berserk, but the truth must be told, and even criticism based on truth is much more substantive than dirty mud-slinging based on a lie. I have seen how a human life has gone and how fragile we all are, and I know we need to be more humble," Petkov said.