There have been a number of deliberate, negative campaigns over the past few months, President Georgi Purvanov said. He was speaking at an informal briefing with journalists at the Evksinograd residence, near Varna on the Black Sea, on August 12. Purvanov then pointed out the cases that have been made against him.

During the meeting he spoke about the conformation from the committee on the archives of the former communist State Security police and People's Army that he has a dossier in the archives of the former communist State Security police. Other subjects addressed by Purvanov was the accusations he had unofficially collected information through the National Security Service (NSS) and that he has connections with businessmen who have controversial reputations.

Purvanov's main conclusion was that he had been the object of "friendly fire" from "one friendly party central", referring to his own Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

The accusations by a former officer at the NSS, Nikolai Markov, were strongly rejected by Purvanov. Markov claimed that NSS guards were asked to collect information about the politicians they protected and the information was later reported to the President.

Purvanov, under whose jurisdiction the NSS falls, said such a thesis was completely flawed. "This is a hit on the institutions, on the State and on Bulgaria's image in Europe," he said.

Talking about his dossier, Purvanov again emphasized that in his file "Agent Gotse" (as he was referred to in the dossier), there was nothing that had been said by him, only information about him.

Purvanov claims he was not aware that he was working for the State Security. His leading officer, Tsvyatko Tsvetkov, however, said last year that Purvanov was indeed well aware that he was working for the organisation. It has been said that in the Gotse portfolio there is a document that suggests Purvanov gave his consent to co-operation with the State Security. On August 12, he once again denied that and also that he received money for what he did.

Purvanov continued by saying that when some State Security files were opened the real informers were not revealed. Instead, he said, those being accused were simply people who worked for the Sate. He asked where the dossiers of the so-called transition period were, the "crime dossiers," as he called them, dossiers on suspicious privatisation deals. In an analytical article, news agency Mediapool said it was unclear who Purvanov had addressed those questions to, for the President has the final decision in appointing the heads of all special services.

With regards to the allegations that controversial businessmen have sponsored Purvanov's election campaign, he said that none of those who had contributed to the campaign had problems with the law at the time of the campaign. "If after that someone did something wrong, it is their responsibility. There is no political umbrella above anyone," Purvanov said. He even argued that because the names of suspicious businessmen were missing from the list of campaign sponsors, the idea that he has relations with such businessmen might be coming directly from such businessmen.

Two businessmen who were also Purvanov's advisers have been shot dead in recent years - the banker Emil Kyulev and Alexander Tasev, the owner of the football club Lokomotiv-Plovdiv. Manol Velev, husband of Vesela Lecheva a member of the BSP, is one of the people who sponsored Purvanov's election campaign. Last month he was also shot in broad daylight on the street, which has raised speculations about the nature of his business.