site.btaBulgarian Police Mark Professional Holiday

Bulgarian Police
Mark 
Professional Holiday


Sofia, November 8 (BTA) - The Bulgarian police Saturday marked
their professional holiday and 135 years since the establishment
 of the institution in Bulgaria. A solemn ceremony was held on
this occasion with the participation of Interior Minister
Vesselin Vouchkov and management cadres of the ministry.

Vouchkov called on police officers to carry out their
professional duties with infinite adherence to principle, and
guaranteed the full support for their work on the part of the
Interior Ministry's leadership. "It is a pleasure for me, on my
first day in office, to be able to congratulate Bulgarian police
 officers on the nice Christian holiday of the  Assembly of
Michael the Archangel, who has been the police's patron saint
since 1924.
 
Respect was paid to the memory of police officers killed in the
line of duty in the speeches of the participants in the
ceremony, and wreaths of flowers were placed at the memorial
plaque in their honour.

Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Svetlozar Lazarov said: "I am
proud that we face together the challenges related to
safeguarding  the rule of law, protecting the border, and
fighting against crime. I am proud that together we have
maintained the civil peace in the country,"
 
Security Police Director Todor Grebenarov said in his address
that being a police officer is a mission, a personal choice made
 with the full knowledge that it can cost one's life.
   
Taking a journalist's question after the ceremony, Minister
Vouchkov said that the most important problems he will start
dealing with immediately are the huge deficit in the Interior
Ministry's budget and the migration pressure. The deficit will
reach 160 to 170 million leva by the end of 2014, he noted.
"This is extremely alarming, but I hope that with the National
Assembly's support we will not allow the work of the Interior
Ministry to be blocked," he added.
 
He confirmed that there is information about intentions of
German nongovernmental organizations -  quite radical, in his
words - to try to pull down the razor wire fence along a section
 of the Bulgarian-Turkish border on Saturday or Sunday. Vouchkov
 guaranteed that this will not be allowed to happen. "All
European citizens have the right to move freely on the territory
 of Bulgaria, which is also a EU country, but it is not an
unfenced yard and we will not allow encroachments on a State
installation," he added.
   
The finalization of the fence's construction along the
Bulgarian-Turkish border is part of the governing coalition's
agreement and it will be carried out. This, however, requires
not only resources, but also many administrative procedures: the
 faster these are launched, the sooner the work will start, the
Interior Minister said.
     
He told journalists that he counts of the support of both the
National Assembly and the experts for the forthcoming changes in
 the Interior Ministry Act he considers necessary. To be
restored are the competitive start in appointments and career
growth, and the balancing role of the President who will appoint
 the supreme professional figure at the Interior Ministry, which
 is also important for the State Agency for National Security,
Vouchkov said.

SN/DS

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