The claim that the five Bulgarians arrested for espionage in favor of Russia had serious contacts with politicians in Bulgaria looks more like building a legend.
This was stated by the former chairman of the National Security Agency Tsvetlin Yovchev to NOVA NEWS.
„Just because someone claims something, doesn't mean it's true. It looks more like an attempt to create an image”, said Yovchev.
According to him, planning the kidnapping of the Russian journalist Roman Dobrokhotov was beyond the capabilities of the five. „I read in the media that it was their idea, but the one who was leading them decided that they didn't have such preparation. It could have probably ended in failure and scandal,” he said.
According to Yovchev, there have always been such groups. “Foreigners were recruited, including for carrying out dirty deals,” Yovchev said, specifying that after the start of the war in Ukraine, people with diplomatic cover would have had difficulty acting. He expects that the contacts of those accused of espionage were mainly abroad, not in Bulgaria.
According to him, there was a large-scale hybrid attack in Romania, which led to the cancellation of the second round of the presidential vote. “It is more of an information war that is outside the defined powers and responsibilities of Romanian counterintelligence,” Yovchev explained, and suggested that the Romanian services received assistance in uncovering the fake accounts.
According to him, we do not have the capacity in Bulgaria to uncover such interference. “We are currently in a hybrid attack. I have never heard a more stupid statement than that Bulgaria will become a buffer zone after our admission to Schengen by land. On the one hand, we are strengthening the external border, on the other - we are opening the borders for free movement, said the former head of the National Security Agency. "I am far from thinking that all the people who express and support these theses are part of Russian propaganda, they are deluded," he explained.
According to him, the transformation that is currently underway in the world, in Western societies, creates uncertainty. "There is insufficient information about what is happening and concerns about the future of people. In order to be able to realize their fears, which are often unconscious, they orient themselves towards such conspiracy theories that are able to explain their fears and help them cope with cognitive dissonance," said Yovchev and added that Russia has built a serious toolkit for conducting information warfare. “We first clashed in 2013-14 over the Maidan and then over the events in Syria”, added Tsvetlin Yovchev.
Regarding the arrest of Boyko Borisov, Vladislav Goranov and Sevdelina Arnaudova, he said that this was a shameful act. “Neither the Prime Minister has the right to order any of the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, nor the Minister of Internal Affairs, nor even the direct superior of the investigating police officers has the right to order his subordinates to do anything. If there were such orders, they are illegal and should not have been carried out”, said Yovchev. Regarding the requested immunity of Kiril Petkov, he said that there should be an investigation and the court should say whether he is guilty and whose fault it is. This will reflect negatively on the political process, believes the former chairman of the National Security Agency.