Bulgaria’s powerful Interior Minister Rumen Petkov resigned on Sunday amid a snowballing corruption scandal that exposed links between top crime-busters and suspected criminals.
Petkov, whose personal poll ratings have plummetted in recent weeks, announced his decision at a press conference in Sofia.
The BTA news agency cited Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev as telling journalists at a separate briefing that the resignation had been accepted.
Stanishev said Petkov’s decision to step down was “normal, logical and dignified.”
Petkov insisted that his resignation was “not a sign of weakness, or yielding to pressure,” but rather a necessary step to reforming his ministry.
The backdrop to the announcement was a far-reaching corruption scandal and two execution-style killings in Sofia that seriously shook Stanishev’s center-left coalition and prompted calls for “urgent action” by the EU.
The saga began in the middle of last month when tapped phone calls revealed that high-ranking interior ministry officials had scuppered a number of police operations by leaking information to key criminals under investigation.
A top crime-busting chief and a former ministry chief of staff were arrested and charged following the revelations.
The ministry’s current chief of staff was also placed on leave, and Petkov himself came under fire after admitting to having contacts with key organized crime suspects. He had initially refused to resign and was backed by the three-party coalition after promising sweeping changes at the ministry’s unit for fighting organized crime and the strengthening of controls over the use of bugging devices.
But a recent poll from the Alpha research institute showed that support for Petkov remaining in office was down to just 9 percent.
The two execution-style killings last week sparked vehement criticism from the EU and put further pressure on the government.
Georgy Stoyev, who had written nine books on the Bulgarian mafia, was shot in the head on Monday last week outside a central Sofia hotel. The night before, Borislav Georgiev, the chief executive of a large energy company, was killed in his apartment building with two bullets to the head.
In his last TV appearance on March 29, Stoyev had requested protection to testify against the mafia and said there was “beyond all doubt” a high-level political umbrella over the underworld.
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS