Starlink arson near Sofia: opposition demands special sitting – suspects long gone
After the attack on Starlink antennas near Plana, the Democratic Bulgaria alliance wants PM Radev to explain himself in parliament. Two Germans are wanted.
Archive image · Photo: Лорд Бъмбъри / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The arson attack on Starlink antennas near Sofia is once again occupying Bulgarian politics. The opposition alliance Democratic Bulgaria (DB) is demanding an extraordinary sitting of parliament, its press office said on Tuesday. It wants to hear Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev and the head of the State Agency for National Security (SANS), Plamen Tonchev. They are to explain what measures were taken after the attack near the village of Plana and how the suspects are being sought. Signatures were to be collected on Wednesday, and DB wants the sitting held on Thursday, 22 October, the BTA news agency reported.
According to DB, it only became clear later that the suspects had already left the country. This requires an immediate explanation to the National Assembly about the chronology, possible errors and responsibility, the statement says. At a parliamentary hearing on 14 October, Radev urged the SANS chairman not to disclose details, arguing that this would hinder the investigation. He assured MPs at the time that the situation was under control.
According to investigators quoted by broadcaster BNT, the suspects are two German nationals who are wanted on European arrest warrants. They allegedly entered Bulgaria on 9 October at 5:37 pm via the Kalotina border crossing in a car with German plates, set the fire at around 10:25 pm and left the country towards Serbia at 11:55 pm. Their court-appointed lawyers question the identification because no faces can be seen in the photos. The presumption of innocence applies.