Opposition Leader: Bulgaria's Rulers Followed Israel, Imperil Security

The Bulgarian government's implication of Hezbollah in the Burgas bus bombing is poorly founded and imperils the national security, argued opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Sergey Stanishev.

Stanishev, who also chairs the Party of European Socialists, spoke after an unusually prolonged sitting of the Consultative Council for National Security, after which Bulgarian Interior Minister for the first time named an organization as standing behind the July 2012 terror attack.

"It is obvious that Bulgaria's government has chosen a political approach and is only repeating the interpretation alleged by Israel on the very next day following the attack, when the investigation had not even started," said the socialist leader, as reported by the BGNES agency.

"The investigation is currently under way and there is no way one can be talking about decisive evidence regarding the direct perpetrators, much less regarding the organization that is behind this tragic event," added he.

"This is absolutely unjustified in view of national security and the risks that are taken with respect to people in Bulgaria," stated Stanishev.

The socialist leader further criticized the government for failing to provide a thorough analysis of the faults in Bulgaria's national security that led to the perpetration of the attack.

He further objected to the fact that participants in the Consultative Council were not presented with the reports to be discussed in advance of the sitting.

Bulgaria's Consultative Council for National Security, chaired by the country's President, brings together the Speaker of Parliament, the PM, commander of defense, leaders of political groups in Parliament, as well as cabinet ministers in the key areas of national security.