Bulgaria risks buying ineffective anti-drone systems. I have encountered outright quackery. This was said in the “Interview of the Day“ on bTV by Tsvetlin Yovchev – former Minister of Internal Affairs and former Chairman of the National Security Agency.
According to him, we still do not have a clear concept of how Bulgaria can protect itself from drones. “With these shortened deadlines and the lack of sufficient competence in the administration, ineffective or morally obsolete systems may be purchased“.
“The Minister of Defense explained that the reason for not participating in NATO's anti-drone initiative is that we have joined the European initiative for protection against drones. In essence, the two programs are almost identical and the goal is the same. Moreover, the standards of the EU and NATO are absolutely the same - what is built under the European programs will be fully compatible with NATO“, Yovchev pointed out.
According to him, why it happened that the EU and NATO came up with almost identical initiatives at the same time is a matter of a long conversation. “Perhaps this started from the American position in relation to the European partners within NATO“.
“It made sense to rethink the option to the extent that the defense of the external borders and the country's air defense would begin to be built and supplied within NATO. Because there are strict criteria that must be met, and the EU program can be used to protect critical infrastructure“, commented Yovchev.
According to him, if there are enough resources, a lot can be done in this direction within 3-4 years. “But I see the risks at the moment in two directions. The first is that we still do not seem to have a clear overall concept of how we will protect against drones at the national and local levels. This already creates the problem of funds being spent inefficiently and things being purchased that are not the most appropriate“.
“The second risk is that with these shortened deadlines and the lack of sufficient competence in the administration, ineffective or morally outdated systems may be purchased. I have encountered outright quackery. Including from Bulgarian companies“, explained Yovchev.
“You cannot sell a punctured suitcase with some kind of silencer inside and say that this is an anti-drone system“, he gave as an example.
According to him, the report of the US Congressional Research Service, which identified Bulgaria and Romania as particularly vulnerable to Russian hybrid attacks, is very serious. “In fact, there are four main points there that concern both us and Romania“.
“The most important thing is that we are extremely vulnerable to Russian propaganda and hybrid threats. And this is a fact, but it seems that at the moment this remains a pending issue and no one is doing anything in this direction“, Yovchev pointed out.
He shared that the second component of the threats is the possibility of sabotage attacks on military-industrial complexes and critical infrastructure.
“The third is hybrid threats - we are extremely vulnerable. The fourth is political instability, which creates vulnerabilities for institutions“, Yovchev explained.
According to him, after the incident in Leipzig, there is still an extremely hesitant Bulgarian position. “In my opinion, this is due to the fact that reactions are very carefully determined so as not to influence voters in one way or another to make their decision“.
“However, this hesitant position cannot last long. We must start calling things by their real names. And the fact that part of the population is deeply under Russian propaganda requires an appropriate approach. And this approach must begin immediately. It is related to starting with education“, commented Yovchev.
According to him, historically, many things need to be clarified for people, because at the moment they are still, especially his generation and after, living in delusion. “Children must also be taught critical thinking“.
“Countering hybrid threats requires a specific approach. There should be an organization responsible for detecting and investigating these threats. It could be the National Security Agency or another unit could be created,“ he stressed. In his opinion, it should be a service with an intelligence profile, not a law enforcement or investigative one.
According to him, the publication by British media that Russian soldiers were trained in Bulgaria should be investigated. “If there really were Russian soldiers here until 2020, this is worrying, because we are a NATO member state“.
“It needs to be checked. What were these people like? Were they really military? What were they trained for? Because they might have been trained as security guards or something else,“ he shared.