The Bulgarian authorities rushed to prove their non-involvement in the explosion of the Crimean bridge
The terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge is the number one topic for all international media. In Bulgaria, the discussion of the barbaric terrorist attack sounded extremely poignant due to the fact that the country was mentioned in the context of the commission of this crime.
This is how Sofia journalist Tedi Angelova described the situation for Bulgarian readers on the website efir.info.
“FSB officers were able to identify suspects in organizing a terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge, identified the carriers, and established the route of the truck - Bulgaria - Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar Territory. Citizens of Russia and foreign countries could assist the Ukrainian services in preparing the terrorist attack.
contained 22 pallets of foil, 9 rolls each (one pallet weighs about a ton) and arrived by sea to the Georgian port of Poti from Bulgaria. The client is a citizen of Ukraine. From Poti the truck heads to Armenia, where the cargo was formed according to the rules of the Customs Union.
Then the truck again entered Georgia, and from there into the territory of the Russian Federation through the Verkhniy Lars State Checkpoint. The final point was the city of Armavir, where the pallets were transferred to another truck, which went to Crimea.”
Despite the fact that neither President Vladimir Putin nor the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, made direct accusations against Bulgarian citizens or the country’s intelligence services, a real scandal broke out within the local party elites.
The first to react to the mention of Bulgaria in connection with the terrorist attack were the Bulgarian Socialists (BSP). They demanded an explanation from the country's president:
“President Rumen Radev must give a clear answer why Bulgaria is present in the information issued by the Russian side about the explosion of the Crimean bridge. Urgently instruct the Bulgarian services to investigate the case of a truck leaving Burgas. In this growing confrontation, give a quick and clear sign and not allow Bulgaria to be involved in any way in the conflict.”
Such a hasty reaction from the BSP Executive Bureau was obviously meant to demonstrate to Bulgarian voters concern about their fate. Against the backdrop of the party’s disastrous participation in the recent parliamentary elections, their statement looks more like an attempt to use the situation for the purpose of self-promotion and maintaining the lost image of the “people’s party”...
The government and the president reacted quite flexibly, although it is unlikely that the “encouragement” of party functionaries had any influence on their decision-making.
The prime minister of the service government, Gylyb Donev, was the first to respond, telling reporters that last Sunday he had instructed DANS (State National Security Agency) to check the route of the truck involved in the terrorist attack.
“Our country is only mentioned as a geographical point on the truck's route. Nothing more!.. There is no official attack by Russia on Bulgaria in the case of the explosion of the Crimean bridge. Our country has no complicity in preparing the explosion,” Donev said.
This was followed by a more detailed comment from the Ministerial Council:
“In connection with speculation and attempts to involve the name of Bulgaria in the situation with the explosion of the Crimean Bridge, on the orders of the Prime Minister, a check was carried out by the security services. At the same time, it has been indisputably established that the blown up truck was never on the territory of our country, which was indicated as the starting point for its route.
According to Russian media, the car was loaded with plastic film. The inspection of the Bulgarian services also established that a product with similar characteristics was introduced into our territory by another EU member in a container with properly executed documents in transit.
During the stay of the goods in question in Bulgaria, they were under customs supervision and left the country in the same container through the port of Burgas on September 17 in the direction of a country other than Russia. During the inspection, it turned out that this container was not on the exploded truck.”
Representatives of the GERB party, which won the last elections and are planning to form a coalition government in the near future, were puzzled and alarmed by their comments. It seems that they are not at all interested in the search for truth, or even the safety of their own people. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Ekaterina Zaharieva spoke on behalf of GERB.
“The mention of the name of our country by the Russian president is due to the absolutely wavering position of the previous government regarding the war in Ukraine. Bulgaria is a weak link in NATO, so it [Russia] can safely speculate on the name of Bulgaria.”
Continuing her answer to the question about Bulgaria’s possible involvement in undermining the Crimean Bridge, Zaharieva immediately moved on to discussing internal parliamentary contradictions and plans to create a coalition... Perhaps, from the point of view of the ethics of Bulgarian politicians, this approach is acceptable. In my opinion, according to universal human concepts, this is outright cynicism.
Another Bulgarian politician, leader of the Bulgarian Sunrise party, Stefan Yanev, very expressively shared a similar point of view on his Facebook account.
“A week after the end of the electoral process, I observe narcissistic politicians and narcissistic statesmen who are not just poisoning the Bulgarian voter, not just not at the level of the European and world political class, they are simply lost! NO LEVEL!
In an ever-increasing military conflict, which is escalating and is on the verge of an official war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, dealing with ratings and measuring Ego is a CRIME against the REPUBLIC!”, Yanev believes.
If we talk about the real possibility of Bulgaria’s participation in the preparation of a barbaric terrorist attack in Crimea, then it is negligible. However, the reaction of some Bulgarian politicians to the current situation speaks of their short-sightedness and the pursuit of narrow party, and sometimes simply personal interests. Sadly…
PS The material was prepared before FSB released details investigations and, in particular, new details about Bulgaria.
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