site.btaUPDATED Interior Ministry Secretery General Petar Todorov Resigns

Interior Ministry Secretery General Petar Todorov told journalists on Wednesday that he is resigning from his post. "After 41 years of service, 34 of which at the Interior Ministry, I am resigning from my position as Secretary General of the Interior Ministry," Todorov said. 

The resignation came shortly after President Rumen Radev put out his reasoning for refusing to decree Todorov's removal as requested by the Government. 

On August 18, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said he wanted Todorov removed for failing to do his job. On August 23, Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov submitted a formal proposal and asked the President to issue a decree as called for by the law. The President announced shortly that he was not going to do that because the Minister's motives were purely political and because the proposal was part of a "full-scale purge" at the Ministry.

Todorov said Wednesday: "I have been a police officer throughout my entire career. I have been through all levels to reach the highest." He thanked "all the worthy colleagues with whom I had the honour and pleasure to work all these years". "I trust that they will continue to conscientiously perform their duties. However, I am put in a situation where I cannot do that," he said.

According to Todorov, the current leadership of the Interior Ministry has no will "to continue the fight for law and order".

Todorov noted that the Interior Minister's motives for demanding his resignation are ill-grounded. "His accusations were ugly, and his attempt to use the deaths of colleagues to achieve his goal was unworthy," he said. He added that he would not go into disproving the accusations because they were a mere pretext and not real arguments.

According to him, the real motives behind the attempts for his removal are political and have nothing to do with his professional performance. He pointed out that he does not perceive Minister Stoyanov as a genuine part of the Interior Ministry.

"I definitely do not want to be part of any attempt to use the Interior Ministry in a political way. The replacement of regional directors who have shown outstanding results in the fight against vote buying shows exactly that," he said. 

Todorov expressed his gratitude to President Rumen Radev for his trust and support in this situation.