Sofia, May 26 (BTA) - The caretaker government has passed a
decision to relieve of his post the head of the State Agency for
 National Security (SANS), Dimiter Georgiev, and asked the
President to decree the dismissal, caretaker Prime Minister
Stefan Yanev told the media after the weekly meeting of the
cabinet on Wednesday. Georgiev, as well as former prime minister
 Boyko Borissov, said the change was prompted by the work of the
 secret services against "the Russian spy networks" in this
country.

Plamen Tonchev, who currently heads a regional SANS division,
has been nominated to replace Georgiev.

Later in the day, President Rumen Radev signed a decree
dismissing Dimiter Georgiev from the position. By another
decree, the president appointed Plamen Tonchev as SANS head,
said the Presidential Press Secretariat.

The Prime Minister said that Georgiev has harmed the reputation
of SANS and gave rise to suspicions that he undertook
politically-motivated acts at a position which is de-politicized
 by law.

Shortly after the appointment of the caretaker government in
early May, Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov said that the heads
of SANS and of the State Intelligence Agency (SIA), Dimiter
Georgiev and Atanas Atanassov, had gone on a long unpaid leave,
until September, which is even longer than the caretaker
government's expected life. It was widely believed that the move
 sought to thwart their replacement by the caretaker government.
 The two were summoned by the caretaker Prime Minister but they
sent their deputies to the meeting. Some time after that, they
went to the Council of Ministers but the Prime Minister was
unable to meet them. In the meantime, Georgiev and Atanassov
terminated their unpaid leave.

The security services' situation worsened after the Right-wing
Democratic Bulgaria coalition, one of the newcomers in the
short-lived Parliament that was elected on April 4, said they
have information about illegal wiretapping of opposition
politicians in the run-up to the April elections. The
information was confirmed by Interior Minister Rashkov, who also
 claimed that evidence is being destroyed in SANS.

Checks have already started into the alleged wiretapping but no
results have been announced. 

Approached by a reporter whether more dismissals can be expected
 in the services, and the Intelligence Agency in particular,
Yanev said that "the public will be informed when the government
 makes a decision".

Yanev stressed that integrity and professionalism are the main
criteria for assessing the performance of the holders of top
positions in the services and the entire administration. "If we
find that problems exist with these qualities, we will make the
necessary change," Yanev said. He added that such changes will
be made only at the management level - "people who do not show
professionalism, integrity and commitment to the positions they
hold". "All other employees in the administration should not be
worried, we are not going to undertake purges," he said.

He also said that the caretaker government does not intend to
revise organizational rules, reduce budget outlays or cut
positions.

In a Facebook video posted shortly after the decision to fire
Georgiev was made public, GERB leader and former prime minister
Boyko Borissov said that "the sole reason for the dismissal of
the heads of the services and SANS in particular, is that they
cracked the spy networks of Russia".

He was referring to the March 22 expulsion of two Russian
diplomats for violating the Vienna Convention, which came on the
 heels of the arrest of six persons, including several present
and former Bulgarian defence officials and military intelligence
 officers, on suspicion of spying for Russia.

Speaking during a meeting with GERB's youth chapter on
Wednesday, Borissov said that he "is ready to take a bet that no
 more Russian spies will be exposed".

He described the caretaker government's actions as
"revenge-seeking".

In a comment to reporters, Georgiev said as far as he was
concerned, the only explanation for his dismissal is SANS' work
for "breaking up spy networks, especially the most recent ones
with the capture of the spies who worked for Russia". He noted
that he had worked with Yanev in another caretaker cabinet but
had no such issues with him then.

Yanev was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense in the
caretaker government of Ognyan Gerdzhikov from January 27 to May
 4, 2017.

Georgiev also said that the first information required by Yanev
when he was appointed caretaker Prime Minister was "about the
spy scandal" with Russia.

Georgiev said that all people working in SANS are professionals
worthy of respect and that SANS was discharging its lawful
powers, "with much work done against oligarchs and spies". "The
spy scandal and the oligarchs, this was something that had not
been touched for years," he said.

Georgiev said that two years ago caretaker Interior Minister
Rashkov had his classified information clearance withdrawn for a
 term of three years.

The dismissed SANS head said that he had worked with five
governments and it is wrong to say that he is "politically
affiliated".

Regarding the alleged wiretapping of politicians, Georgiev said
that on Tuesday he sent a report to the caretaker Prime Minister
 with the conclusion that the allegations were not proved. He
said that the unit for overseeing the use of special
surveillance means is checking SANS for possible illegal
wiretapping of politicians.

Responding to the attacks from the former power-holders that the
 caretaker government was trying to capture the State, Yanev
said what they were really trying to do is "free the State from
legally non-conforming practices and make sure that the state
institutions work in the interest of the public and in
compliance with rules and laws".

In a comment for the press, Bulgarian Socialist Party leader
Kornelia Ninova said she presumes that the caretaker Prime
Minister has proof that the services "were used for political
purposes". Ninova said that Yanev and the cabinet must have
information about this, otherwise they would not have decided on
 replacing SANS' head.

Democratic Bulgaria co-chairman Hristo Ivanov said that the
changes at the security services is not surprising and was
"inevitable". "There are many things for which the leadership of
 the services and SANS in particular should be criticized,"
Ivanov said. RI, RY/ZH,DT