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Boyko Borissov and Zoran Zaev signed a friendship agreement in 2016 in Skopje. However, the Macedonians blocked the work of the commission, which is supposed to clear history textbooks of controversial issues.
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Pandemic intensifies disinformation and attempts at influence through “mask diplomacy”
Foreign intelligence services have joined an attack on Bulgaria because of our country’s position in the dispute with Northern Macedonia.
These shares are
were detected
from the State Agency for National Security, it is clear from the report of SANS on their activities in 2020. It was approved by the parliament and part of it was published on the government website.
Disputes between Sofia and Skopje escalated last year after Bulgaria vetoed the start of northern Macedonia’s EU membership talks. The reason was Skopje’s insistence that negotiations and documents be conducted in the official EU and Macedonian languages, while Sofia insisted on the wording “RSM’s constitutional language”.
In addition, the Bulgarian government wants to see progress in implementing the 2016 Friendship Treaty agreements signed by then-Prime Ministers Boyko Borissov and Zoran Zaev. Changing history textbooks, stopping propaganda and hate speech against Bulgaria are also among the conditions for lifting the veto on the start of negotiations.
In recent days, Zoran Zaev has expressed hope that the president’s cabinet will review Bulgaria’s position and approve the start of talks with RS Macedonia in June. However, the firm position was reaffirmed by the caretaker Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev.
The foreign services have intensified in the direction of marginalizing the Bulgarian position, the counterintelligence agency has established. However, the report does not mention which foreign services are working against Bulgaria
“In 2020, the actions of some foreign special services will be intensified as part of
complex
efforts for
marginalized
in Bulgarian
positions
in the field of foreign policy, related to the defense of our national interests in terms of a state-building element, such as language, as well as in terms of our history and culture. The activity for supporting the assimilation policy towards Bulgarian communities abroad in accordance with foreign national doctrines continues ”, is the statement in the open part of the SANS report.
In the last year, attempts to
intelligence in
electronic environment,
ascertained by the service. This was natural, because due to the coronavirus pandemic and the closure of economies, more and more of the state’s activities were carried out online.
Because of bringing life online, though
are intensifying
hybrid attacks and
misinformation,
states SANS. The dissemination of misinformation is extremely widespread, the document said.
In the current situation, the instruments of the so-called soft power, which includes approaches that have gained popularity as “mask diplomacy” with a geopolitical component, says the SANS report.
“Mask diplomacy” is a term coined in 2020 to describe China’s attempts to influence Europe by sending huge amounts of humanitarian aid in the form of protective masks, costumes and medicines. Russia has made similar attempts to exert influence, sending humanitarian supplies with a military convoy to Italy last year.
Islamic terrorists also tried to use COVID as a weapon
Using the coronavirus as a weapon is the new fad among Islamic terrorists, according to a SANS report released by the government.
The main terrorist structures remain Islamic State and Al Qaeda, the document claims. The two organizations are currently trying to increase their influence through attacks, having lost personnel and territory in recent years.
“A specific moment for the period is the initiatives to use the coronavirus as a weapon. Terrorist organizations include in their propaganda calls for its spread by infected their sympathizers, and darknet1 comments on an offer for sale of items contaminated with COVID. In general, however, terrorist structures use the pandemic mainly for propaganda purposes – they present it as a punishment for dissenters and seek opportunities to discredit the authorities for their measures, “said the report of SANS for 2020.
The main terrorist threats to Bulgaria were the opportunities for penetration of terrorists on Bulgarian territory together with the flows of illegal migrants from North Africa and the Middle East. 60 signals per month for terrorist danger were received and processed in 2020 in the agency.
They have increased attempts to carry out cyberattacks by state and non-governmental structures, as well as to acquire and distribute weapons of mass destruction, states in its report the State Intelligence Agency.
The borders closed due to the pandemic have forced Islamic jihadists to limit their activities mainly to propaganda on the Internet, claims this special service.
“The deteriorating economic situation worldwide due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created the conditions for strengthening cross-border organized crime. The tendency to use the channels for illegal traffic through the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria has been preserved “, the DAR report also says.
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