„There is no need to wait for a third case where there may be victims“. This was said in the "Interview of the Day" on bTV by former Interior Minister Valentin Radev regarding the series of fires and explosions in weapons factories.
According to him, the services must check all versions and act at the first signs of risk. According to the former Interior Minister, the presence of DANS and the Specialized Counter-Terrorism Unit in similar cases shows that the services are also working on a version of external intervention.
„Why are DANS and SOBAT present there? What are they doing there? What is SOBAT's job? A special counter-terrorism unit. So he expects that there is something like that“, commented Radev.
He added that in his opinion, DANS also has reason to work on a similar version. According to him, the topic should be examined carefully, since it is about weapons and ammunition.
Radev also drew attention to the series of incidents related to the EMKO company, as well as the attempted poisoning of Emilian Gebrev, his son and another manager of the company in 2015.
“Since 2011, this person has been pursuing him because he was poisoned, his director is one of the directors, now we see that his warehouses are being burned“, said Radev. According to him, the services should clarify why similar cases are not observed at other large companies in the sector.
When asked whether the version about Russian agents has been worked on since 2020, Radev replied that there is no information about charges being filed. Radev indicated that in his opinion, Bulgarian institutions should provide more information on the case.
Radev also commented on the way in which the prosecutor's office presented the information on the other current case - the "Petrohan" case.
„I am trying to excuse the prosecutor's office. These are our state bodies. I have to trust them. I keep repeating it. Distrust in state institutions is detrimental to the state“, he said.
At the same time, however, the former interior minister criticized some of the details presented during the press conference.
„Maybe from pressure from relatives, those injured people who... Their children died there. And loved ones. But maybe such details should not have been told like that. That's what I thought as a citizen“, Radev pointed out.
According to him, some details of the investigation should not have been publicly discussed.
Radev also commented on the role of criminal psychologist Rosen Yordanov, who participated in the investigation. Radev emphasized that he would not want to question the work of the experts.
„He is there in his capacity as an expert. And I hope he was. "I hope so," Radev said.
When asked if Yordanov is politically connected to GERB, Radev replied: "I can't judge." I don't know, but he is there as an expert“.
According to the former Interior Minister, the National Security Advisory Council should be convened if the president has information that indicates the need for it.
“If it has information that it is not by chance that DANS and SOBATA are there, and Demerdzhiev said something more, or whoever needs to, it should be convened immediately“, Radev said.
According to him, we should not wait for a new incident.
“Because we do not need to wait for a third case where there may be victims“, he said.
Radev also defended the need for the National Security Advisory Council to meet regularly.
“Society needs this body. It was created to give direction, to at least motivate the services on how to work. "That's enough," said the former interior minister.