site.btaUPDATED Caretaker Cabinet Proposes Dismissal of Interior Ministry Secretary General

Bulgaria's Council of Ministers has proposed to President Rumen Radev to decree the termination of the powers of Chief Commissioner Zhivko Kotsev as Secretary General of the Interior Ministry and his release from office, the Government Information Service reported on Tuesday without stating any reasons.

The Government adopted the decision without meeting.

Kotsev on Monday took sick leave, and it was reported on Tuesday that he had been hospitalized because of a deteriorated health condition.

The Interior Ministry Secretary General resigned last week but withdrew his resignation shortly after that because, as ex-PM Nikolay Denkov quoted him as saying in an alert to ad hoc Prosecutor Daniela Taleva, that he had been pressured to step down by acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov and Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov.

The caretaker cabinet's proposal comes several days after a scandal surrounding National Customs Agency Director Petya Bankova, who was arrested on charges of involvement in a smuggling crime group.

As the Bankova case came to the limelight, discrediting materials about Kotsev started to be leaked to the media, including a number of picture showing him with a person charged in the same investigation. The evidence presented to the court in order to keep Bankova in custody alleged that she, the Secretary General and the person in question had met.

Under the Ministry of Interior Act, the Secretary General is appointed and dismissed by the President of the Republic on a proposal by the government. The head of State has not said so far whether he will issue a decree to this effect.