site.btaParliament Elects New Defence Minister Replacing Predecessor over Ukraine Controversy – wrap-up

Bulgaria's National Assembly on Tuesday elected Dragomir Zakov Minister of Defence, replacing Stefan Yanev. Yanev's removal from office was proposed by the Government after he went on record refusing to call Russia's intervention in Ukraine "war" and took a soft-line approach to the situation.

Zakov, a long-serving career diplomat with ample expertise in security policy, has been Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council since 2019. His diplomatic rank is minister plenipotentiary.

With 184 votes in favour, no votes against and 33 abstentions, the Parliament relieved Stefan Yanev from his duties as Defence Minister on Tuesday. 

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said that Yanev thought he had the right to have his own foreign policy. Petkov said that he refused to accept his country lying low and added that no minister alone is a pledge of the Government’s stability.

After the vote, Zakov was sworn in as the new Defence Minister by the National Assembly.

Presenting the nominee, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said that in recent years Zakov has been active in asserting a systematic approach to decision-making in the field of defence and in invigorating the fight against disinformation. Petkov stressed that the nominee has amassed extensive experience.

Last-minute change

Nominating Zakov for the office, the Council of Minister withdrew its earlier nomination for the portfolio, Todor Tagarev. There had been rumour about the new nomination but Petkov did not confirm it for the press until he went to Parliament for the extraordinary sitting that had to endorse the government reshuffle. He said that Zakov accepted to be nominated late on Monday. To justify the change, Petkov said that noone is better prepared than Zakov in the field of international security. 

There were some personal arrangements to be made but he is flying from Brussels today, said the Prime Minister.

He also said that the nomination had been consulted with the coalition partners. "The Defence Minister is from from Continue the Change quota and the other political forces firmly support us," he said.

He added that Todor Tagarev will help the government with advice.

"The reason for the last-minute change was that Zakov made a last-minute decision to accept the offer," said Petkov. He denied rumours about opposition from other state institutions. "I informed the President yesterday but before that I informed the coalition partners".  Asked if the power-sharing Socialist party was happy with the nomination, Petkov said that each partner names its own representatives in the government and "this was Continue the Change's choice [of minister]". 

Who is Zakov

Zakov was born in Sofia on July 24, 1975. He earned an MA in international economic relations from Sofia's University of National and World Economy in 1999. During his conscription between 2000 and 2001, he was part of a Bulgarian team that provided logistical coordination for the KFOR transports across Bulgarian territory. He joined the Foreign Ministry in 2002 and worked there at the OSCE and Regional Security Department, the Arms Control and Non-proliferation Department, the UN and Development Cooperation Directorate, the NATO and Regional Security Directorate, and the Security Policy Directorate. He was posted to Bulgaria's Permanent Mission to NATO in Brussels (2004-2008) and to Bulgaria's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva. He speaks English, French and Russian. 

Reactions in Parliament 

Continue the Change Floor Leader Andrey Gurov said during the plenary sitting that his group appreciates the contribution of General Stefan Yanev to the Bulgarian Armed Forces. “With a war underway a few hundred kilometres off our border, however, the Government must be able to speak with one voice,” he pointed out. In Gurov's words, starting a war because of one’s imperial ambitions is an act that must not be ignored. He added that his parliamentary group, while not being against Russia, cannot remain silent when the Russian President orders an attack on a sovereign country, bombing civilians, and destroying their cities. “The Russian people does not want war, either,” the MP added.

MP Atanas Zafirov of the BSP for Bulgaria group of Socialists in Parliament said that they would back Yanev’s placement “in the spirit of the coalition agreement”. BSP will not throw the country into a political crisis, the MP said adding that Bulgaria faces severe challenges, needs strong leadership, a clear majority and legitimate decisions. Against the background of all the troubles, another war broke out in Ukraine, he said. This conflict has dug another deep dividing line in society, Zafirov said. The BSP does not want to be a conduit for such processes, the BSP will not allow the country to be thrown into the clutches of powerlessness and adventurism, said Zafirov. Accepting the resignation, we do not evaluate the work of the current Minister Stefan Yanev, the MP announced.

The power-sharing Democratic Bulgaria (DB) supports Prime Minister Kiril Petkov in reconfiguring his team in order to deal with the big issue ahead of him, said Tuesday DB co-leader Hristo Ivanov during the debate on the replacement of the Defence Minister. Ivanov said that DB's vote should be treated as a confirmation of its support of the parliamentary coalition, as "a vote of confidence in this government." Ivanov noted that it used to be possible to be part of NATO and the EU, and hold a position of neutrality, presenting it as a national interest. That era is over, Ivanov stressed. From now on the national interest is the unity of the EU and NATO, he added. This is not a war between Russia and Ukraine, this war is one dictator's aggression towards the groundwork of international law, Ivanov commented. Bulgaria's national interest is for Eastern Europe to remain out of an imperial periphery, said Ivanov, adding that from this point of view Putin is an enemy to Bulgaria.

"We will save you again, Mr Prime Minister, but we will not do it forever. It is about time you move from words to deeds," former foreign minister Ekaterina Zaharieva (GERB-UDF) said during the debate on personnel change in the cabinet. Dragomir Zakov is obviously an acceptable nominee for the post of defence minister in the eyes of President Rumen Radev and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Zaharieva noted. "The reshuffle raises a few questions related to the availability of a coalition agreement as well as the question of how long will President Radev continue to designate the ministers in this government. It was clear to us from the very beginning that such a government coalition cannot work because it is unprincipled." 

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) said that in the name of peace, stability and security, they are not asking for the resignation of the entire cabinet now, “in these complicated times of war, but we declare clearly that this government is already detrimental to the country, to democracy, to statehood,” “The Bulgarian state is not an experimental laboratory and Bulgarian citizens are not lab mice for a political experiment,” he added. To preserve peace is the task of every citizen with a responsibility for the future, of all state bodies and institutions, peace must be preserved sometimes at the cost of much compromise, Karadayi added. “That requires united political determination,” the MRF leader said and called upon the President, the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers to join in coordinated action in the name of the Fatherland, peace and Bulgaria’s future.

In a statement from the parliamentary rostrum Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said that “with every statement, every move, every buffoonery of a foreign position serving a foreign interest, this government and this Prime Minister are bringing us closer to war," "There is a war, and those to my right are doing everything in their power to join it uninvited," Kostadinov said in the presence of the Council of Ministers. Bulgaria should not take part in a conflict that is not its own, said the chairman of Vazrazhdane. According to Kostadinov, it is ridiculous for Bulgaria to send military aid. "Our Council of Ministers wants to give weapons to stop the war, what nonsense is this?" he asked. If the Council of Ministers wants us to join the big ones, let the government consider Bulgaria’s becoming a parliamentarian and mediator, let us invite the countries to talk here, he suggested.

Ex-Defence Minister: "Allied-format decisions not always right, good for Bulgaria”

After being relieved from his responsibilities as minister of defence earlier on Tuesday, Stefan Yanev argued in a video posted on Facebook that "the decisions that are taken in Allied formats, are not always correct and good for Bulgaria. "These formats should not determine and predefine our interests. They are merely a tool and a mechanism for the implementation of our interests," he argued.

Yanev warned that Bulgaria is facing dire prospects in coping with the difficult times that lie ahead because the main political forces in the country act guided by populism and emotional theses.

"Instead of seeking working solutions, short-term political dividends are being generated, exploiting people's suffering," Yanev  said, adding that Bulgarian citizens are "wise and will not let being used in propaganda campaigns in anybody's interest."

He said he did not feel to blame for anything that he had said or done and that in all his actions he had been guided solely by Bulgaria's interests.

Support for Yanev

While Yanev’s placement was being voted in Parliament, protestors rallied outside the Parliament building in his support. Protestors said that Yanev pursued a policy in defence of national interests and their worry was that the new minister would cater to foreign interests. One of them, who identified himself as Tihomir Vassilev, said that Yanev, being a military expert, understood the complexity of the situation and was replaced under the pressure of foreign embassies.