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Todor Tagarev

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Todor Tagarev
Тодор Тагарев
Tagarev in 2024
Minister of Defense
In office
6 June 2023 – 9 April 2024
Prime MinisterNikolai Denkov
Preceded byDimitar Stoyanov
Succeeded byAtanas Zapryanov
In office
13 March 2013 – 29 May 2013
Prime MinisterMarin Raykov
Preceded byNikolay Mladenov
Succeeded byAngel Naydenov
Personal details
Born
Todor Dimitrov Tagarev

(1960-04-18) 18 April 1960 (age 64)
Stamboliyski, PR Bulgaria
Political partyIndependent
Children3
EducationZhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy (PhD)
Air Command and Staff College (PhD)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • military expert
Military service
Allegiance Bulgaria
Branch/service Bulgarian Air Force
Years of service1982-1986

Todor Dimitrov Tagarev (Bulgarian: Тодор Димитров Тагарев; born 18 April 1960) is a Bulgarian politician who served as Minister of Defense in 2013 and from 2023 to 2024. A political independent, he is a military expert with widely recognised academic credentials.

Early life and education

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Todor Tagarev was born in Stamboliyski on 18 April 1960. He graduated from the Kiril Popov Mathematics school in Plovdiv, after which he obtained an Engineer's degree in telemechanics from the Georgi Benkovski Higher Airforce Institute in Dolna Mitropoliya. He then proceeded to defend a dissertation at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in Moscow and at the Air Command and Staff College in the USA.

Professional career

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From 1982 to 1986, Tagarev served as an Air Weapons Officer with the Twenty-fifth Fighter-Bomber Regiment of the Air Force of Bulgaria at Cheshnegirovo. He was a lecturer at the Georgi Benkovski Airforce Institute from 1989 to 1992. From 1994 to 1998 he was a research worker at the Institute of Management and Systems Research and the Institute of Space Research of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where he continued to work as a senior research worker from 2002 to 2004. From 1999 to 2001 he was the director of the Defence Planning Directorate and the Armaments Policy Directorate in the Ministry of Defense. From 2004 to 2008 he was the head of the Department of Defense Management at the Georgi Rakovski Military Academy. From 2005 to 2008 Todor Tagarev was a member of the NATO Research and Technology Board and a national representative in its Systems Analysis and Research Panel. He has considerable experience in leading and participating in international and national interdisciplinary research on security and defence issues. His scientific and applied publications have been translated into Arabic, Armenian, Bahasa, Georgian, Dari, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Hungarian and French. Since 2008 he has been in the Institute of Parallel Information Processing of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, now the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, as Head of the Information Technology in Security Section and the Centre for Security and Defence Management. In September 2009 – 2010 he was Advisor to the Minister of Defense on Strategic Defence Management.

Political career

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Tagarev was first appointed as the Minister of Defense by President Rosen Plevneliev on 13 March 2013 as part of the Caretaker Government of Marin Raykov.[1]

Denkov Government Tenure

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On 6 June 2023 Tagarev was sworn in as the new Minister of Defense as part of the newly formed Denkov Government.

Crashed drone at Tyulenevo

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On the night of the 17th of September, a military-use drone, which was 3m in length and carried an 82mm mine-explosive was marooned on the shore of Bulgaria in the coastal town of Tyulenovo.[2] On the morning of the 18th of September, the drone was de-activated by a team of explosive experts, who cordonned off the area.[3]

In an initial briefing at the Ministry of Defense, Tagarev underlined that the drone had not been caught by the Air-Defense Radars and had most likely been marooned to the shore of Bulgaria.[4]

During an emergency briefing at the Parliamentary Defense Committee, Tagarev confirmed that the drone was "most likely" connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, being marooned to the coast of Bulgaria after an estimated 2 weeks of being downed.[5] Tagarev claimed that it was impossible to establish whether the drone was of Russian or Ukrainian origin.[6] He further stated that all protocol in regards to the handling of explosive devices were maintained while removing the explosive and handling the drone.[7]

The opposition parties (Vazrazhdane, BSP, ITN) called on Tagarev to resign, accusing the MoD of a slow reaction time and a lack of professionalism.[8] Co-chair (at the time) of the DPS Parliamentary Group, Delyan Peevski, similarly demanded an explanation for the minister about the drone.[9] Vice President Iliana Iotova, similarly called the response of Tagarev "unsatisfactory".[10] Tagarev, in turn, called the demands for his resignation unreasonable.[11]

During an interview on the 24th of September, 6 days after the incident, Tagarev underlined the fact that the origin of the drone remained unknown, although its presence in Bulgarian territorial waters was "most likely" unintentional, and defended the work of the explosive experts in carrying out the controlled explosion.[12]

Yordanov Day Controversy

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During Yordanov Day, traditionally held on the 6th of January, it is customary for a blessing of the Bulgarian Armed Forces battle banners to take place, under the supervision of the President, Cabinet Ministers, Members of the Committee for Defense and National Security and Chairs of the Parliamentary Groups.

During the celebration of Yordanov Day in 2024, an invite was not extended by the Ministry of Defense to any Members of Parliament, with the exception of the Chairman of the National Assembly, Rosen Zhelyazkov, who demanded the Minister of Defense explain the omission.[13] Tagarev's office initially denied that protocol was breached and claimed that all invitations were released.[14] However, in a later statement it was confirmed that a mistake had been made by the staff member responsible for the release of invitations, with the staff member subsequently resigning their position within the Ministry.[15]

Head of the DPS group in the Bulgarian Parliament, Delyan Peevski accused Tagarev of "humiliating" the Bulgarian parliament[16] and later called on Targarev to "take personal responsibility" instead of "hiding behind innocent staff-workers".[17] BSP MP, Borislav Gutsanov, claimed that this was "another example why this person is a threat to our country's national security" and called on Tagarev to resign.[18]

Targarev's behaviour as Minister was defended by the responsible staff member, who took full responsibility for the error and called Tagarev "the most competent and honourable Minister of Defense".[19] Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov similarly defended the Minister, claiming that the "political offensive" against him had nothing in common with "a mistake by a staff member" and that Tagarev had a positive contribution to the modernization of the Bulgarian Armed Forces.[20]

References

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  1. ^ Georgiev, Ivan (28 February 2022). "НОВИЯТ ВОЕНЕН МИНИСТЪР С КОРЕНИ ОТ СЕЛО ПИРИН! ИМА КЪЩА ТАМ!". toppresa.com (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ^ "На территории Болгарии обнаружен БПЛА с прикрепленным к нему взрывным устройством". golosameriki (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Болгарские сапёры подорвали дрон, найденный на берегу Чёрного моря". svoboda (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Тагарев: Дронът не е бил засечен от нашето ПВО". Dnes (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  5. ^ ""Може да са минали до две седмици". Тагарев няма информация за произхода на дрона, открит до Тюленово". svobodnaevropa (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  6. ^ "MO едва ли ще разбере със сигурност чий е намереният край Тюленово дрон (обновена)". mediapool (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Тодор Тагарев: Има боеприпас върху дрона край Тюленово, вероятно мина". Trud (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Доплувал дрон с бомба обедини опозицията за оставка на Тагарев (Обзор)". 24chasa (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Пеевски поиска незабавни обяснения от Тагарев за падналия дрон". Standartnews (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Илияна Йотова: Тагарев не даде задоволителни отговори за дрона". 24chasa (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Проф. Тагарев: Няма никаква причина да ми се иска оставката". Zonanews (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Тагарев за обезвредилия боеприпас по потник: Начинът, по който е действал сапьорът, е коректен". BTV (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Скандал: Желязков пише на Тагарев защо депутатите не са канени на Богоявление". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Министерство на отбраната: Спазен е протоколът за водосвета на Богоявление". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Експерт в МО подава оставка заради неизпратени покани за Богоявленския водосвет". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Делян Пеевски: Самозабравил се министър унизи парламента". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Пеевски: Тагарев да поеме лично отговорност за гафа, да не се крие зад експерти както с "Пирогов"". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Отбраната първо отрече, после посече чиновник: вярно - на Богоявление забравили поканите за лидерите в НС (Обзор)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Експертът с оставката в МО: Заради мен атакуват най-достойния и компетентен министър на отбраната". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Денков: Атаката срещу Тагарев не е заради поканите (Видео)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
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