105 POLITICS - PRESIDENT - SECURITY - COMMENTARY - UPDATED

It Is a High Time for
Changes in Security Agency -
President


Peroushtitsa, February 14 (BTA) - It is a high time to carry out
changes at the State Agency for National Security (SANS),
Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said here on Saturday. "We
have sufficient grounds to categorically state this," he added
mentioning several scandalous cases through the years,
including the so-called Kostinbrod case [which broke out on
reflection day before the May 12, 2013 early parliamentary
elections, when a batch of 350,000 excess ballot papers were
found in a printing house in Kostinbrod), the 2012-2013 period,
when SANS served anti-constitutional attacks against the head
of State and the recent scandalous wiretapping operation
codenamed Worms [in relation to which Sofia City Court
President Vladimira Yaneva authorized the use of special
surveillance means for 300 days].

He would not say whether the Interior Ministry Chief Secretary
has to be replaced saying that "it is within the Government's
competence to decide and make a proposal to the head of State
and then I will exercise the powers vested with me under the
Constitution".

Asked whether Parliament should replace the SANS Chair,
Plevneliev replied that this is one of the musts. "I raise these
issues because, as head of State, I believe that problems
should not be covered up but resolved and the scandals of the
recent years should not be swept under the carpet," he stated.

Asked whether the Consultative Council on National Security
should be called, the President said that such a meeting is
prepared and it will discuss an important issue of the national
security - the condition of the Bulgarian army and the ways of
responding to the surrounding challenges. According to the
President, this could be achieved by enhancing the army
efficiency.

Approached to comment on the first 100 days of the Cabinet,
Plevneliev replied: "The Government has promised stability and
reforms. Stability has been achieved and now there should be
reforms". He voiced his expectations that during the current
year the National Assembly would adopt the relevant statutory
acts for implementing reforms in the sectors of retirement,
healthcare, water, security and energy.

President Plevneliev was in Peroushtitsa on the occasion of Vine
Grower's Day. There, he took part in the traditional cutting
of vines along with Plovdiv Regional Governor Rozalin Petkov,
Peroushtitsa Mayor Radi Minchev, French Ambassador in Sofia
Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes and the oldest local vine grower
Yordan Roupchev.

***

Asked by journalists on Saturday whether the Worms operation may
break the integrity of the ruling coalition, Deputy Prime
Minister Roumyana Buchvarova dismissed such allegations. She
explained that completion of checks and the opinion of the
prosecution authority are awaited. "When there are certified
facts, the political speculations will be less," said
Buchvarova. Giving ultimatums within the coalition is not good,
she observed.

Regarding commentaries about the possible replacement of
Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Svetoslav Lazarov and SANS
Chair Vladimir Pissanchev, she said that, as mandate-holder,
GERB is trying to resolve the problems using a principled
approach. She recalled the Prime Minister's position that the
two should keep their posts. /LI/TK/