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Dragomir Zakov Photos: MO
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The removed Yanev left him a good legacy – money for the team and new equipment. And the unelected (and because of the president) Tagarev – good rhetoric
A total change in the Ministry of Defense a day after it received a new incumbent is not yet visible. But there is a total change in Bulgaria’s image in NATO, which will convince other countries that we are a really good ally. And not Russia’s Trojan horse – a role assigned to us by Moscow since our accession to the alliance, which the Bulgarian governments have so far managed to strengthen.
This will be the first task of the young diplomat and new Minister of Defense Dragomir Zakov, who was fired by the political carousel in Sofia. Unexpected, but Plan B worked, after Prof. Todor Tagarev proved to be an impossible nomination due to the accumulations on the left and even more severe hatred with “Dondukov 2”.
Bulgaria is NATO and the Bulgarian troops are NATO troops – Prime Minister Kiril Petkov tried to explain things so simply a month ago, when Stefan Yanev for the first time shocked with his words how he would not allow “foreign” troops in our country on the occasion of the alliance’s request on the eastern flank.
If NATO has to come, I guess you will all feel more secure, Zakov tried to win public opinion in the first minutes after his oath in parliament. And he promised strict compliance with all legal procedures.
Logically and diplomatically –
May Zakov manages so far to show a combination of the best features of the removed Stefan Yanev and the unelected Todor Tagarev. He is openly pro-NATO as a professor and not inclined to make extreme statements as a general.
The image of Tagarev’s hawk provoked the sharp reaction of the BSP and the change in 12 without 5. But the truth is that the relationship between Tagarev and Radev is even more divisive.
The Americans have been stuck among them for a long time
F-16 fighters
That is why the first reading of the news that the Prime Minister will replace Yanev with Tagarev was “Petkov declared war on Radev.” A lightning truce followed – Kiril Petkov would not want a battle front with the president in the midst of an unprecedented world crisis and a real war.
The competition for the selection of a new multi-role fighter aircraft to replace the Soviet MiG-29s was prepared under the second government of Boyko Borissov. At that time, Tagarev was the head of the Institute of Defense, which had a say in the election. The favorite in this procedure are American fighters, albeit second-hand.
But the Gerdjikov cabinet comes, in which Stefan Yanev is the Minister of War. As a continuation of the same procedure for the winner, they offer the Swedish “Gripen”. And Tagarev was fired from the institute.
In the course of the competition, the military added the conditions to the planes, Tagarev accused the inquiry commission, which in the 44th parliament was checking how Radev’s government had chosen Gripen. And he directed his suspicions at the people of the Air Force, and especially at the then-commander, who was close to the president. Tsanko Stoykov. However, Stoykov was later promoted to deputy chief of defense and helped Borissov’s third cabinet conclude a deal for brand new F-16s.
Already prime minister, last year Stefan Yanev did not try to ruin the deal at all. On the contrary, his first caretaker government
requested an offer from the United States to buy 8 more aircraft
Until recently, as Secretary of War, the general refused to vent his indignation at America for delaying the first eight planes already paid for. At the same time, Radev was openly attacking – Bulgaria would lose its air sovereignty.
Perhaps the political rumor of a strong cooling of relations between the two generals has some basis. Which does not mean that they will not look for a common path again now, when the dismissal as a minister glorifies Yanev in the eyes of a large group of voters and made him a launch vehicle for any type of new project.
But at this stage, the president’s words that he expected more as a minister of war from his former closest to Dondukov 2 were cool.
The truth is that Zakov inherits a well-kept house
by Yanev as Minister – in less than 2 months the Ministry of Defense began to accelerate the purchase of new armored vehicles for the infantry, money was provided to raise the salaries of the military, launched competitions for vacancies in the army. The general had also reached an agreement with Finance Minister Asen Vassilev that if he prepared a major contract for modernization, he would receive a budget update. The team of the removed minister also initiated legal changes, through which new weapons can be bought faster.
Stefan Yanev’s big problem as a minister was that he failed to step down as prime minister. And, as Kiril Petkov rightly pointed out, he pursued a policy that often collided with that of the cabinet.
Something that should not have happened to Dragomir Zakov, since they obviously have a common belief with the Prime Minister that Bulgaria is NATO and NATO is Bulgaria.
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