PM Denkov seeks the dismissal of SANS Chairman Plamen Tonchev

Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov on November 3 demanded the dismissal of the Head of the State Agency for National Security (SANS), Plamen Tonchev. The reason is his refusal to dismiss his deputy Deniyo Denev, the author of the report about the voting machines, which led to the cancellation of the machine voting in the first round of Bulgaria’s local government elections on October 29.

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The Prime Minister has sent his reasons for Tonchev's dismissal to the President.

"In response to my official request, I expected SANS chairman Plamen Tonchev to present a reasoned proposal for the early release of his deputy Denyo Denev. Instead, I received a refusal due to "lack of arguments" Denev is the author of the so-called SANS report of 26 October containing manipulative statements and suggestions. With this report the SANS started the sabotage of the machine vote in the first round of the elections.

According to a report of the State Commission on Information Security, this report is in violation of the law under the section "unlawful activity against public order". The refusal of the chairman of SANS to dismiss his deputy after he failed to provide me with the report on potential risks that I requested before the election sends two clear signals to me. First - that Mr Tonchev approves of Denev's illegal actions. Second - that he has no objection to the malicious use of this report to destabilise the electoral process."

Denkov described these actions as a deliberate blow to national security and democracy in Bulgaria and pointed out that this was "yet another case in which the chairman of SANS is not fulfilling his duties."

"A week ago Bulgaria entered the grey list of countries for money laundering. SANS is the main coordinating institution for the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee of Experts on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism in Europe. It has clearly failed in its coordinating role.”

He also recalled the positions of SANS from the end of May this year in which the agency made political comments and assessments. PM said that these positions contradict the legal and ethical norms under which SANS works. The prime minister also pointed out that he had not received any advance information from the security service during the energy workers' protests last month. He also commented on the unaccepted SANS report for 2022.

"This is a precedent - it means that the agency is not meeting the expectations of the majority in its controlling body - the Parliament. The current leadership of SANS cannot guarantee the sustainability of the national security protection system," he said.