Bulgarian General Boyadzhiev: the purpose of the incident in Poland was to discredit the idea of negotiations The purpose of the incident on the territory of Poland is to compromise the idea of negotiations so that they do not exist, said Dir.
bg Bulgarian intelligence General Todor Boyadzhiev. It will not come to the third world War, the military is sure. Both Russia and the United States are looking for a way out of the crisis. The world is waiting for a decade of perestroika – both in the West and in the East.
Kalina PetrovaI expect a decade of perestroika – both in the West and in the East.
I hope the politicians will come to their senses and prevent the Third World War with the help of secret diplomacy. This was stated in an interview with Dir.bg doyen of Bulgarian intelligence General Todor Boyadzhiev. According to him, Bulgaria has missed a number of opportunities, for example, to assume the role of a natural mediator between the conflicting Russia and Ukraine. He also criticized the deal on F-16 aircraft, although he directly pointed out the need to rearm the Bulgarian army.
General Todor Boyadzhiev has worked in Bulgarian intelligence for more than 30 years. In 1990, he became the first Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and received the rank of general. At the same time, General Boyadzhiev is the Deputy Trade Representative of Bulgaria to the United States and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Bulgarian mission to the UN in New York. Author of more than 10 books about intelligence, some of which have been published in Russian and English.Dir.bg : Do diplomats and politicians show the necessary aerobatics after rocket explosions on the territory of Poland?
Todor Boyadzhiev: The question is very easy, the answer is complicated.
I am initially critical about how foreign policy is being implemented, how, in principle, the search for solutions to major problems is going on. Unfortunately, we have now entered a period of unprofessionalism. Let me explain what I mean: there are no leaders like Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Charles de Gaulle, etc. The level of leadership around the world has significantly decreased. A lot of what is happening is not the best possible option. I will give a concrete example. The heads of two major intelligence agencies met in Ankara: the CIA – William Burns, and Russian intelligence – Sergey Naryshkin. Why did all this need to be announced with fanfare? Of course, what appeared in the media is empty chatter: they say they were talking about an American basketball player sitting in a Russian prison, and about a "death dealer" – a Russian serving time in an American prison, who, of course, is not Putin's confidant. Putin doesn't care if he is in prison or not. Obviously, both countries are looking for a way to find a way out of the already global crisis so that neither of the great forces loses face. You can't drive a great force into a corner and expect it to raise its hands up and say, "Yes, friends, we are monsters." Such things are decided in secret meetings, not in public. This was done to say: "Look, we're finally looking for a way to negotiate." What happened the next day? Two citizens were killed in Poland. Whose rocket is this? All the media in one voice are Russian. Just a few hours later, US President Joe Biden was forced to declare that the trajectory of the missile was not from the Russian side. Was this done on purpose? Who pulled this off? Poles? Ukrainians? Russians? Unfortunately, there are forces on both sides of the front that want to continue fighting. Putin, despite all his autocracy, has an internal opposition, there are people who do not accept the way the fighting is conducted. All this should be investigated. The purpose of the incident on the territory of Poland is to compromise the negotiations from the very beginning. To avoid them, the shooting continued, and someone saved millions - from the sale of gas and oil or from the sale of weapons. In such cases, not public, but secret diplomacy is necessary.
– The Bulgarian Ministry of Defense, the Presidential Administration, the National Security Agency (DANS) have been subjected to cyber attacks, mainly by hackers "Kilnet". How do you interpret this?– Cyber security is constantly growing.
20 years ago, I was the first to utter the phrase, the confirmation of which we see every day – "Kalashnikov will be replaced by a computer mouse." The battle has moved into new areas and is constantly growing in cyberspace – due to the introduction and development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc. What is happening in Bulgaria is not unique. Problems with cyber attacks in all spheres — financial, economic, whatever — will grow. This is not an answer to something specific.
– The People's Assembly decided to provide Ukraine with weapons, although it is not yet specified what kind. Is it possible that the supply of Soviet weapons guarantees replacement with weapons from the Netherlands, France or another Western country? How does Bulgaria act in a difficult international situation?– A question that is answered differently in our information environment.
I believe that we should not "add fuel to the fire". This is not in the interests of Bulgaria. In my opinion, unfortunately, the Bulgarian government is losing a lot of good opportunities due to its short-sighted decisions. As a military man, I am categorically in favor of the Bulgarian army rearming. We cannot stay with physically and morally obsolete weapons whose service life is expiring in the near future – I mean MiGs. Our politicians decide to spend billions of dollars on painted airplanes, and the poorest country in Europe makes an advance payment for several years in advance. And the main request of the Bulgarian National Library – to build or reconstruct the building of the Book Depository, where the national treasure can be stored for many years – was ignored by everyone. Both at the level of the capital and at the level of the state.
Even if we are provided with some kind of weapons, they will not be modern – again outdated, only American. These are temporary measures, but not a solution to the problem. One way or another, the Bulgarian army will have to rearm. But I don't understand how the largest economy forces us to sign contracts so that we pay billions in advance. Planes are needed now, not in a few years.
– Has Bulgaria missed the opportunity to mediate between Russia and Ukraine?– For me as a citizen, it is unacceptable that a number of governments should bring matters to the point that Turkey will be the mediator in this conflict between two fraternal peoples – Ukrainian and Russian, the peoples to whom we gave the alphabet, religion, Bulgarian patriarchs.
It was a great chance for Bulgaria, but it needed a person like Orban, who would say: "This is the national interest, everything else takes a back seat." Orban, of course, is not the most successful example, but we still have no consistency in politics. We have turned the state of the spirit, according to the definition of the Russian academician Likhachev, into an enemy and enemy of Russia. And they could be a natural intermediary. How is Turkey better? Turkey believes that, occupying a middle position between the conflicting countries, it fulfills its functions as a member of NATO, but we are also a member of NATO. Bulgaria was the natural mediator between the two sides. Turkey has become an energy hub for Russian gas and oil supplies to Europe. Erdogan pursues his national interests and does not care at all about his allied obligations. Bulgaria has turned from an intermediary into an enemy state.
Our reaction to the bombing of the Crimean Bridge was also inadequate. Some administrator, not Putin, reported about our alleged participation, and the Prime Minister answered him from our side. In this case, DANCE should have been responsible, not the Prime Minister, but we immediately took the bait.
– The Netherlands is preventing Bulgaria from joining the Schengen area, although we have fulfilled all the conditions for a long time. Why are we not accepted?– There is a right of veto.
I cannot tell you why the Netherlands continues to block Bulgaria and Romania's entry into the Schengen area. This is not normal and not natural. But they use their veto power. What prevents Bulgaria, when it comes not only to pan-European interests, but also to something that directly concerns the Netherlands, from saying: "OK, dear friends, we have been waiting for Schengen for so many years, we will veto any issue." Politics is also a trade. In this case, we do not use every opportunity to impose solutions that correspond to our national interests.
– You said that someone is interested in continuing hostilities, what is your forecast – a protracted conflict, frozen or peace talks?– It will not be easy to reach the final decision.
This will be preceded by several stages. The other option is unthinkable, it is madness, the destruction of humanity. Almost 10 years ago, Vladimir Putin said clearly and categorically: "Why do we need the world if there will be no Russia in it?" If it comes to the point that Russia is on the verge of disintegration, crazy decisions can be made. There is an unfair war going on, and it must be stopped. It seems that there are no channels of negotiations. What we are going through is equivalent to the Caribbean crisis. Then the information from Nikita Khrushchev reached John F. Kennedy through his brother Robert Kennedy, with whom Russian intelligence managed to establish contact. So secret diplomacy saved humanity. Also, the Gavrilov channel can be cited as an example.
– Are you expecting a Third World War?– No, on the contrary, I expect the politicians to get smarter.
Of course, improving the work of diplomats and the media have their own great importance in global terms. Everything should happen in the common interest. Unfortunately, this is now a global problem, not only in Bulgaria – the rulers decide that they are given the power to govern, and the voter gives them the power to serve in his interests.
No matter how optimistic I am, I expect a decade of perestroika – both in the West and in the East. Problems are brewing in America that will inevitably lead to changes. Either in two years in the presidential election, or after another term, possibly Trump. In America, the division no longer runs along the axis of "both Democrats and Republicans for democracy, but differ in this and that." Now the axis of division is Biden, accusing his opponents of almost socialism, communism, anarchism, fascism, that they pose a threat to American democracy. This cannot continue, America has gone through civil wars, it will not reach a new civil war, but there will be restructuring.
And in Russia, in my opinion, a new restructuring is planned. A few days ago, Putin issued a decree on a new state ideology. The war is returning to ideological positions again, a clash of ideologies. Russia admits defeat on the ideological front and talks about a new state ideology. It is unlikely that this will be the ideology of Dugin and extreme radical nationalists, but Orthodoxy, love for the Fatherland will be in the foreground, they will come out as factors.
– And in Bulgaria, when will the restructuring end?– Bulgaria is a function of the collision of large.
Unfortunately. There is a good saying – "With whom Bulgaria, he will eventually lose." We have overthrown many empires. I don't see the light in the tunnel, we've lost 30 years. Perhaps a citizen should be able to exercise more control in order to dismiss rulers.
