Etien Hertsel Levi

Public record

Compiled from publications and official records as of 23.10.2026. Every statement links to its source; claims made by others are marked as such, with who makes them. Quotations in English are our translation.

Communist Party and State Security

• A State Security agent. By Decisions No. 2-2399 and No. 2-2400 of 28.05.2024 the Dossier Commission declared his affiliation with State Security as an agent under the pseudonym Panayotov, recruited by the Sofia city directorate of МВР-ДС on the line of the Sixth Directorate (the fight against ideological diversion). The records found on him in the archives are a registration form, documents from the staff officer who handled him, a register entry and index cards. Fakti.bg, citing the same data, reports that he was registered on 12.12.1988 and removed from the active operational register in 1990. — desebg.com, 28 May 2024, Fakti.bg, 29 May 2024
• Details from the file. The tabloid Weekend, republished by Kliuki.bg, writes that three documents survive – a recruitment report, a registration form and a proposal to drop him. According to the report, on 5 December 1988 Senior Lieutenant Tsvetan Voykinski and Captain R. Nikolov held a recruitment talk with him at the Slavyanska Beseda hotel in central Sofia; he chose the pseudonym Panayotov himself and was tasked with analysing the Club of the Young Variety Performer. No declaration of cooperation was taken, as it was judged inexpedient, and the recruitment was fixed with a written statement. The officers proposed registering him as an agent in department 03 of State Security. — Kliuki.bg (citing Weekend), 7 Jun 2024
• The assessment on parting with State Security. The tabloid Weekend, republished by Kliuki.bg, also quotes a proposal of 13 March 1990 to drop agent Panayotov, reg. No. 88839/88, from the agent network. The document says he was recruited on an ideological and political basis and used mainly as an expert giving opinions on new fans of various genres and newly formed bands; the handling officer notes that he "works honestly with the State Security organs. There is no evidence of exposure" (our translation). The stated reason is that with the unfolding democracy and liberalisation towards all musical styles the department had no need of such a specialised collaborator; contact could be restored if required. — Kliuki.bg (citing Weekend), 7 Jun 2024
• He denies collaborating. He told Bulgaria Dnes that at two meetings he had flatly refused to be recruited, and challenged: "let them produce a document with my signature of consent that I agreed to cooperate with them" (our translation). Later, on BNR, he said he had read his file at the Dossier Commission – the work file of an operative who tried and failed to recruit him: "Nowhere is there a signature of mine" (our translation). — Bulgaria Dnes, 31 May 2024, BNR Horizont, 7 Feb 2025
• Citing a former Sixth Directorate chief. In his defence, speaking to Bulgaria Dnes as relayed by Novinite.bg, he cited Dimitar Ivanov, former head of the directorate's sixth department, as having recently said in an interview: "I know the man who worked on him, a young lad. They overdid it" (our translation). In the same piece he threatened to sue anyone who calls him an informer. — Novinite.bg (citing Bulgaria Dnes), 6 Jul 2024
• Watched by military counter-intelligence – in his words. Novinite.bg relays what he told Bulgaria Dnes: "As soon as I entered the army in 1977, military counter-intelligence, the so-called VKR, took an interest in me" (our translation). He puts it down to his relatives in Israel and West Germany; from then on, he says, they watched whether he had dollars or marks. — Novinite.bg (citing Bulgaria Dnes), 6 Jul 2024
• The family house expropriated under Zhivkov. He told Bulgaria Dnes that the large three-storey house left by his grandfather was taken for the planned Zone B5 at the lowest possible valuation, and the family received a studio and a two-room flat, which it paid for with a loan. — Bulgaria Dnes, 20 Jul 2021

Russia

• Position on the war in Ukraine. As a parliamentary candidate he told NOVA, as relayed by Dunavmost.com: "Bulgaria should be on the side of neither the victim nor the aggressor" (our translation). In the same appearance he said Velichie is not a Russophile party. — Dunavmost.com (citing NOVA), 2 Jun 2024

Corruption and scandals

• Accusations against Velichie's leadership. Responding to the call by party chair Albena Pekova for seven MPs, him included, to leave the National Assembly, he told Bulgaria Dnes, as relayed by Club Z, that she, Ivelin Mihaylov and the other six MPs of the party "are people with particularly heavy dependencies" (our translation) and act on someone's orders. He did not say what these were. — Club Z, 23 Jul 2024
• Financial dependencies at the Historical Park – in his words. He told Bulgaria Dnes that the people of the park had sold their houses and flats and entered a scheme of shares and promises of high returns: "And the authorities must investigate these criminal schemes" (our translation). He is convinced the attack on him and his former Velichie colleagues was planned from the moment they took office in the previous parliament; the paper also recalls his words that the lie detector proved the integrity of them all. — Bulgaria Dnes, 17 Oct 2025