site.btaPresident Radev Dismisses Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Kostov on Government's Proposal

President Radev Dismisses Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Kostov on Government's Proposal

Sofia, February 22 (BTA) - Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has signed a decree releasing Georgi Kostov from the position of Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, the head of State's Press Secretariat said on Wednesday.

At its regular weekly meeting on Wednesday, the caretaker Cabinet decided to propose to the President to dismiss Kostov, caretaker Interior Minister Plamen Uzunov told reporters.

Uzunov said that the reasons for the dismissal are "established violations affecting one of the core principles of the Interior Ministry: political neutrality". Uzunov also claimed that Kostov harmed the interests of the Interior Ministry and of the public. Until the nomination and appointment of a new Interior Ministry Chief Secretary, his functions will be performed by the Interior Ministry's Deputy Chief Secretary, Uzunov said. The Interior Minister said that, as a gesture of political correctness, he will not nominate a replacement for Kostov and will leave this to the next regularly elected government.

The Interior Minister said that Kostov perpetrated the violations in 2015-2016. Uzunov said that sufficient data have been collected that Kostov exerted pressure on former and incumbent Interior Ministry officers who were removed from their positions not according to the proper procedure or were relegated to lower posts. Kostov explained to the officers Kostov that he removed them under political pressure exerted on himself. Asked whether the political pressure came from the then governing GERB Party, Uzunov declined to answer, stressing that the pressure was political. Data about pressure has been collected is in respect of five officers.

Uzunov did not reply to a reporter's question whether any regional directors of the Interior Ministry will be replaced. He said that the heads of the regional directorates should meet certain criteria: performance, loyalty to the system and professional experience.

Speaking to reporters later on Wednesday, Kostov said he had alerted the prosecuting magistracy about the way he was being dismissed. Kostov said he will assert his rights in court. He argued that the dismissal "is intended to destabilize the country".

Kostov said also that during a one-to-one meeting Uzunov told him that "there is pressure from the Prime Minister" for his removal from office. The reason, according to Kostov, is lost confidence. The former Interior Ministry chief secretary said he was unaware of the plans to check his work and that he learned about the proposal for his removal from the media.

Kostov also said that no shortcomings in his work have been established, "only remarks concerning the administrative reform in the Interior Ministry".

Kostov denied having exerted pressure on officers. "This insinuation shows lack of knowledge of the Ministry of Interior Act because the chief secretary has nothing to do with the release of professional heads".

"My dismissal is not an end it itself, it sends a message to everybody in the Interior Ministry's professional leadership," Kostov said.

The proposal for Kostov's dismissal came less than a week after Uzunov denied that there were tensions between him and the Interior Ministry Chief Secretary. Speaking to reporters on February 16, Uzunov said he had made no such proposal to the Council of Ministers, while Kostov, for his part, said he was not planning to resign.