site.btaUPDATED Government to Demand Defence Minister Yanev's Resignation, to Nominate Todor Tagarev as Yanev's Replacement

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said Monday that the government will demand the resignation of Defence Minister Stefan Yanev at an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet in the afternoon. 

It emerged later on Monday that the government will propose Prof. Todor Tagarev as the new defence minister.

In a statement to the media in the morning on Monday Petkov said that he has called an extraordinary meeting of the government at 3 pm local time with three items on the agenda:

One: Evacuating successfully 140 Bulgarians from Kyiv, as there is a window for such a move which Bulgaria must use;
Two: The nuclear threat which Russian President Vladimir Putin made on Sunday, which may be an attempt at scaring people but which cannot be ignored;
Three: Demanding the resignation of Defence Minister Stefan Yanev.

Petkov stressed that he worked successfully with Yanev in the first caretaker government appointed by President Rumen Radev and that the Prime Minister supports the policy for investment in the Bulgarian army. 

Yanev's resignation will be demanded on Monday and put the vote at an extraordinary sitting of Parliament on Tuesday.

A meeting of the four partners in the coalition government will discuss who will be appointed in Yanev's place. Media reports say this should become known later on Monday.

Petkov said he talked with all four of the coalition partners on Sunday evening and all have supported the move to demand Yanev's resignation.

Petkov's message came after late on Sunday evening Yanev said in in a Facebook post that he was not stepping down.

In Petkov's words, no minister in his government has the right to "their own foreign policy, even less so by Facebook posts". 

In his post on Sunday Yanev wrote “Don’t expect me to hand my resignation in this geopolitical situation.” He believes that his critics aim to see him replaced by somebody “who is more willing to push through certain foreign interests” in the Bulgarian foreign policy and especially in the defence area.

The Defence Minister came under fire for being overly cautious in his comments about the Ukraine crisis and refusing to use the word “war”. According to media reports, Democratic Bulgaria has urged the Prime Minister to replace Yanev but that was not officially confirmed and Democratic Bulgaria co-leader Hristo Ivanov only commented that they expect the Defence Minister “to act more adequately”. In the corridors of Parliament, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said late last week that Yanev’s replacement is not on the agenda.

In his Facebook post, Yanev said that “allegations that he is conducive of foreign interests, are a downright lie” and that he has always been guided by the Bulgarian national interests.

Yanev further said that “Bulgaria should not demonstrate pro-Russian, pro-American or pro-European policy”. “Bulgaria must demonstrate a position in defence of its national interests. It must defend the rights of its citizens, guarantee their security and peace, and the prosperity of the Bulgarian state. The goal is one: to preserve our statehood, culture and national identity,” Yanev said.

Tagarev: Bio

Professor Todor Tagarev is a former caretaker Minister of Defence in the government headed by Marin Raikov in 2013. Prior to that, he served as Director for Defence Planning and as a National Armaments Director at the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence. He also sat on the NATO Research and Technology Board.

In 2016 Tagarev was appointed head of the Defence Institute but was relieved from the post a year later by Yanev himself who at the time was caretaker defence minister.

Currently Professor Tagarev leads both the IT for Security Department and the Centre for Security and Defence Management at the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is also in charge of the research teams focusing on EU crisis management and on the evolving concepts of security. He also serves as Director of the Defence Institute at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Tagarev is also Editor-in-Chief of the "Information & Security: An International Journal" and DCAF's series Security and Defence Management. 

Reactions to Defence Minister's Expected Replacement

President Rumen Radev

In a position released by his press secretariat, President Rumen Radev says that replacing the Defence Minister at the peak of a military crisis taking place next door is a risk the responsibility for which rests with the ruling coalition. 

Radev further says that in the election of Yanev's successor, the ruling majority should be guided by the understanding in respect of sovereignty, professional competence, and ability to stand up for the Bulgarian interest.

Yanev was prime minister of the two caretaker governments appointed by Radev in 2021. 

Deputy Prime Minister for Climate Policies and Minister of Environment and Water Borislav Sandov

"I am surprised that a new defence minister nomination will be discussed. This is a decision of the Prime Minister. Yanev's successor will be put forward by [Petkov's] Continue the Change party and I am not familiar with this. The coalition finds itself in a special moment. No discord exists in the support for Ukraine but there is a special opinion. It is important that we stand united.

"We monitor the situation with the destroyed oil refineries in Ukraine and the background radiation. The issue and the measures in respect of this are being discussed with the Prime Minister. There is no damaged structures of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant but there is information about increased background radiation. At the moment there is no strong wind to spread pollution but we are concerned with damages of the nuclear facility."

Democratic Bulgaria

"The Democratic Bulgaria insists on coordinated unity of action of the political forces in the ruling majority in support of the steps of the government for protecting Bulgaria's national security," Democratic Bulgaria co-chairman Atanas Atanassov said in a Facebook post. In the current conditions the institutions have a duty to implement this political will, he argued. "It is obligatory to implement a full-scale operation to neutralize the Russian spy rings acting under various forms of cover in all areas of this country's public and political life," Atanassov says in the post.  

GERB-UDF

Commenting Yanev's pending resignation, GERB-UDF MP and deputy chair of the parliamentary Defence Committee Hristo Gadjev wrote in his Facebook account that "a special military operation has just started between Dondukov 1 and Dondukov 2". These are the address of the President's Office and the government headquarters in central Sofia which face each other. The comment references the fact that Stefan Yanev was the Prime Minister of two caretaker governments appointed by President Rumen Radev in 2021 and is large considered as the "President's man" in the Cabinet of Kiril Petkov.

Gadjev told BTA that GERB-UDF will express their official position when the nomination for Yanev's successor becomes known. 

Vazrazhdane

"Petkov's policy-making turned Bulgaria into a participant in the military conflict and thereby heavily damaged the Bulgarian economic and national interests. We push for the resignation of the entire government and hold as criminal every step which brings Bulgaria closer to involvement in the military conflict in Ukraine, and the taking of sides in a conflict between two close and friendly to Bulgaria countries – because Ukraine and Russia are equally close to Bulgaria and this country has equally close historical relations with them. The resignation of the government is the least step which should follow."