site.btaUPDATED President Radev: No Direct Threat to Bulgaria at Present

Emerging from Friday's meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security, President Rumen Radev told reporters the Council's conclusion is that there is no direct threat to the country at present. The Council believes that it is urgent to put an immediate end to hostilities and to make further efforts for dialogue and finding a peaceful solution, the President added.

Radev convened the Council to discuss the risks for Bulgaria in the context of the conflicts in the Middle East. The meeting lasted three hours. Representatives of all political forces represented in the parliament took part in the meeting. Among the participants were caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev and National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan, the Chief of Defence, Admiral Emil Eftimov, caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov, caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov, caretaker Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova, Deputy Foreign Minister Elena Shekerletova, heads of security services and others.

All participants in the meeting expressed their concern about the escalation of armed clashes and the grave humanitarian crisis. "We join the calls of the international community for de-escalation, for refraining from the use of force and for avoiding the involvement of other countries, which would be a threat to peace not only regionally but also globally," the participants in the Council agreed. 

The head of State said that the Council considers urgent the immediate cessation of hostilities and further efforts for dialogue and finding a peaceful way out of the situation based on the UN Security Council resolutions and international law. "After getting acquainted with the reports and the security services and the Interior Ministry, we came to the conclusion that there is no direct threat to our country at the moment," the President said. He added that the sharply deteriorated environment is generating risks that necessitates their continuous monitoring and taking preventive actions.

The risk of growing migration flows to the country and the possibility of terrorist attacks is increasing, Radev stressed. He said that all the participants in the Council rallied around the opinion that the consolidated efforts of all institutions should continue for the evacuation of Bulgarian citizens from the region and for the release of the Bulgarian crew members of the Galaxy Leader, which was hijacked by the Houtis in Yemen in November 2023.

In view of the developments in the situation in the Middle East, the Council made several recommendations to the Executive, the President said. First, strengthening of the preventive measures taken to prevent terrorist acts on the territory of the country, as well as against Bulgarian diplomatic missions and Bulgarian service persons in missions and operations abroad. 

The second recommendation is to continue efforts to evacuate Bulgarian citizens from the region of the conflicts and to release the Bulgarians from the Galaxy Leader crew. 

The third recommendation is to identify and, if necessary, implement additional measures to secure the state border and counter increased migratory pressure. 

The fourth recommendation is to enhance cooperation with related security agencies to ensure timely and comprehensive monitoring of the security environment to counter terrorist threats, the President said.

Fifth, if necessary, the National Counter-Terrorism Plan should be updated and relevant plans prepared by State and local authorities. 

Sixth, assess the economic risks facing the country, review strategic reserves and replenish them if necessary, the President said. This opinion and recommendations were adopted by a large majority, with only one Council member voting against, he specified.

According to the President, these are critical, immediate emergency measures as a result of a situation that has arisen with the complication of the security environment. He also pointed out that Bulgaria needs to be aware of the region it is in and what can be expected as trends in this environment. "We are at the centre of this wider region of instability. We have united around the position that guaranteeing security in a world saturated with great dynamics of geopolitical processes is a major task of the State's leadership and requires constant efforts for balanced and adequate development of all elements of the system for the protection of national security," Radev said. In his words, these are the security services, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the armed forces and the Bulgarian defence industry. "That is why at this Council we made a panoramic review of these elements of the system of national security protection," Radev noted.

He added that, first and foremost, these are the security services, which Bulgaria relies on for timely information and alerting in case of potential threats, but these services operate in conditions of staff shortage, high-ranking specialists leave for more attractive conditions in the civil sector. The equipment at their disposal is outdated or lacking, and at the same time they have to provide anticipatory information and take pre-emptive action against hostile structures, which currently have a much higher technological level of equipment, Radev said. Similar conclusions were drawn at the Council meeting about the Bulgarian diplomatic service.

The Interior Ministry also has its own problems related to the training of personnel and equipment, and this applies with particular force to the protection of the state border, the President added. He said that important steps have been taken for the staffing of the police, but at the same time there is still a lack of fencing and video surveillance along important sections of the border with Turkiye.

Regarding the armed forces, the President noted that the issue of the outflow of personnel has been raised many times at the meetings of the Council on National Security. The head of State recalled that during the Council meetings held in 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023, the same conclusions were adopted on the need for action to curb the "alarming" outflow from the armed forces, their manning and raising the prestige of the military profession.

"When we compared what we wanted to achieve and what the real figures are, the statistics are not in our favour at all," Radev said, adding that the overall understaffing of the army in 2018 was 19.9%, and this year it is already 22%, while that of officers was 19% and is now 26%. The head of State noted that the most worrying thing is the occupation of places by cadets in universities. According to him, in 2018 there was 80% occupancy, while this year only 47% of the advertised cadet seats have been occupied; that this percentage will decrease drastically as they graduate.

The President announced that all participants in the Council expressed the opinion that the attitude towards national security should be reconsidered, requiring a change of approach. According to him, salary increases in the army are not a panacea, but clear, long-term policies are needed so that young people with qualities are attracted and retained with motivation and prospects for professional and career development.

Radev pointed out that there is also a need to rethink the attitude towards the modernisation of the Bulgarian army, focusing not only on large projects, but also on smaller, low-budget ones that guarantee information superiority and asymmetric advantage. He explained that these are drones, intelligence, communication, surveillance systems, etc. "We see what is going on in Ukraine and how a USD 1,000 drone destroys a USD 5 million tank," Radev said.

The head of State said that during the meeting, Article 59 of the Constitution was discussed. Paragraph 1 states that the defence of the homeland is a duty and honour for every Bulgarian citizen, and Paragraph 2 says that the preparation of citizens for the defence of the homeland is regulated by law, and there is no such law. 

"We have united to work for the future in the direction of the Executive and especially the Legislature to draft and adopt such a law, deciding what the form of this law will be, so as to enable every Bulgarian citizen to fulfill their constitutional duties as it is written in the Constitution," President Radev said.

The participants in the Council also discussed the trend of increasing the share of GDP for defence in NATO. According to the President, it is clear that the country is moving towards allocating 2.5% to defence, but a very serious assessment is needed by the Executive and the Legislature on how to reach this percentage without harming other sectors, but "we have to ensure adequate capabilities in this complex security environment."

Regarding the Bulgarian defence industry, the head of State said that the lessons from the modern conflicts prove in a categorical way the key importance of Bulgaria having its own potential for the production of defence products. He also added that it has always been pointed out at the meetings of the Council that the Bulgarian defence industry should actively participate in reforming and strengthening the security sector. The President pointed out that the investments being made in the defence industry, especially those concerning critically scarce industries such as gunpowder and explosives, should find understanding from the State and local authorities and be implemented more quickly.

"Investing in security comes at a price, but we all agreed today that security is the bedrock of statehood and without security we cannot talk about societal development and prosperity of the nation. I am confident that the consensus we reached today will find its broad, institutional and public support," President Radev told reporters.