site.btaTwo Ministers and Head of National Security Agency Quizzed in Parliament over Detention of Bulgarian Ship by Sweden in Sabotage Investigation

Bulgaria's National Assembly held a hearing of Deputy Prime Minister and Transport and Communications Minister Grozdan Karadzhov, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev, and State Agency for National Security (SANS) Chairperson Plamen Tonchev regarding the detention by Sweden of the Bulgarian ship Vezhen in a sabotage investigation. The hearing was held on a motion by Kiril Petkov MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria and a group of MPs.

The Maltese-flagged Bulgarian vessel was detained by Swedish authorities on Sunday on suspicion of sabotage following a breach of an undersea fibre-optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

SANS head Plamen Tonchev told the MPs that there currently is no data to support a sabotage hypothesis, “but work continues on all versions”.

He also said that SANS is in contact with Bulgaria's partners in NATO and the Swedish and Latvian services looking into the incident. He explained that there is no negative information about the eight Bulgarian crew members and the ship's management, which is entirely Bulgarian. In addition to Latvia's State-owned cable, also breached are cables owned by a country unfriendly towards NATO, Tonchev specified.

Transport Minister Grozdan Karadzhov told the MPs that Swedish port state control officers had inspected the Vezhen but a comprehensive report and conclusions from the inspection were not available yet. The second mate, the third mate, the chief engineer and the boatswain got off the ship on January 28 and were questioned by police. In addition, the captain and the chief mate were questioned onboard the ship.

He explained to the MPs the ownership of the Vezhen which is registered under the Maltese flag, although it is owned by a Bulgarian legal person. The vessel is not sovereign Bulgarian territory since it is registered and sailing under the Maltese flag. Bulgaria has no jurisdiction to conduct an investigation on any ship sailing under a foreign flag if it has caused damage to another country.

Karadzhov went on to offer an account of events on January 25 when weather deteriorated and the ship encountered a storm during the night. On the morning of January 26, the crew established that the anchor, along with part of the chain, was out of position and dragging from the ship's bottom. The captain ordered the vessel to stop to retrieve and secure the anchor, and the ship continued its journey. In the evening of January 27, the Swedish port control authorities reported a suspicion that the ship had been involved in a breach to underwater cables by an anchor dragging along the seabed.

As he addressed the MPs, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev called against "political escalation" of the Vezhen case because this could damage Bulgaria's reputation.  "I would like to allay everyone's concerns that Bulgaria is in no way regarded by its partners and Allies as being involved in sabotage or subversive activities - activities that we all condemn and against which we, as partners and Allies, are working together," said Georgiev.