[09SOFIA420] NEW HOPE IN BULGARIA’S FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME

Published by Wikileaks & Bivol.bg

 date: 7/31/2009 11:52 refid: 09SOFIA420 origin: Embassy Sofia classification: SECRET destination: 09SOFIA389 header: VZCZCXRO1126 OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL DE RUEHSF #0420 2121152 ZNY SSSSS ZZH O 311152Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6217 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE  S E C R E T SOFIA 000420    SIPDIS    E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2028  TAGS: PGOV, PREL, BU  SUBJECT: NEW HOPE IN BULGARIA'S FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED  CRIME    REF: SOFIA 389    Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sutton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)    1. (S)  SUMMARY.  In his first days in office, new Minister  of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov, asked to see DCM Sutton and  representatives of law enforcement agencies at post to seek  our advice and stress his determination to make organized  crime and corruption his top priority.  Aware that he  inherits a dysfunctional and demoralized ministry, he has  already begun firing the worst of the old guard and has begun  the establishment of an organized crime task force in line  with U.S. recommendations.  In his capacity as Deputy Prime  Minister, he and the Prime Minister are preparing a major  overhaul of the State Agency for National Security (DANS)  starting with the removal of Chairman Petko Sertov.  Tsvetanov has a solid track record as an honest cop and is  one of the new Prime Minister's closest confidants.  While  the challenge is Herculean, his political support, enthusiasm  and openness to us makes real progress in law enforcement in  Bulgaria possible.  END SUMMARY.    REFORMING THE STATE AGENCY FOR NATIONAL SECURITY (DANS)    2.  (S)  According to Tsvetanov, DANS Chairman Sertov will  announce his resignation soon, prematurely ending his 5-year  term.  As a close associate of former Prime Minister Sergei  Stanishev, Sertov has long been criticized as a patently  political appointment to what was intended to be an  apolitical agency.  Tsvetanov said that Alexi Petrov, the  PM's advisor on DANS, (a controversial figure widely  criticized for alleged criminal connections) would also be  forced to resign.  Tsvetanov stressed that he wanted to bring  in the most trustworthy figures to fill these roles and  sought the embassy's advice on candidates.  He also said he  planned to considerably downsize DANS so as to avoid  duplication of effort with the Ministry of Interior and to  move DANS away from law enforcement and toward  counter-proliferation, counter-narcotics and  counter-intelligence functions.    CLEANING HOUSE AT MOI    3.  (S)  As one of his first acts in office, Tsvetanov fired  Deputy Police Commissioner General Minko Braykov (the number  two position in the national police hierarchy) who he  believed had been connected with leaks of sensitive  information and political interference in investigations.  Tsvetanov emphasized that the new Deputy Commissioner General  and his Deputy Ministers would be selected from a pool of  younger, reform-minded thinkers with international  experience, and he would not recycle old faces from previous  administrations.    BUILDING AN OC/CORRUPTION TASK FORCE    4.  (S)  Aware that tackling organized crime and corruption  cases will require resources outside of MOI, Tsvetanov said  he will make improved interagency coordination a priority,  and has already taken steps to initiate a multi-agency  organized crime task force along lines suggested by the  embassy.  Particularly, he said his office will strive to  improve coordination with the Ministry of Justice and the  Prosecutor General.  He stressed that cooperation between the  U.S. and Bulgaria on narcotics and money laundering is  already strong, but he hoped it would continue to grow.    5.  (S)  COMMENT:  Tsvetanov is backing up his pre-election  rhetoric with action; he is clearly eager to cooperate with  us and genuinely interested in achieving results.  We had an  excellent relationship with him during his previous term in  the MOI, and we expect this to continue in the new  government.  Though he faces tremendous challenges in  reforming a broken law enforcement system, he has gotten off  to a great start.  He is looking for our support and he  deserves it.  McEldowney  

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