Criticism of Interior Minister Grows in Parliament over Yavor Georgiev Case; Calls for Resignation

Minister of Interior, Daniel Mitov, faced strong criticism in Parliament today, June 12, over the death of 36 year-old Yavor Georgiev in Varna. Several opposition parties demanded his resignation.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov stated that the time for analyses and coordination between the political and professional leadership of the Interior Ministry had long passed. He emphasised that under the law, the use of force and auxiliary tools is permitted only when necessary. Following recent events, Zhelyazkov has ordered thorough inspections within both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Health.

Rosen Zhelyazkov, Prime Minister: "There should have already been synergy to quell public concerns and reactions in cases like this in Varna. There is nothing evident in the video footage to justify the perception that any form of physical force was absolutely necessary. I have ordered investigations by the end of the day — both within the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Health — focusing on actions, inaction, and accountability throughout the internal affairs hierarchy."

Kostadin Angelov - GERB-UDF: "We are definitely not satisfied with the results achieved by the Interior Ministry. We have increased the salaries of those working in the Interior Ministry system and we expect results from them. We expect results from the Minister. We believe that for these months the time of adaptation is over.
BNT: Is it possible to withdraw your confidence in the Minister?
The first thing I expect is to see the results of the Interior Ministry. It is early to talk about resignations. We expect them to do their job. We think the reaction is overdue in this case."

Atanas Atanasov - DSB: "There are serious problems in the functioning of the Interior Ministry. I don't know whether Mitov became a minister of his own free will or not, but he is not in his place at all. For more than a year the Interior Ministry has no professional head - no chief secretary. Mitov inherited all the appointments from Kalin Stoyanov and did not take any action to remove these district chiefs, which were put there as political cudgels."

Ivaylo Mirchev - co-chairman of "Yes, Bulgaria": "In this draft law a year and a half ago, tabled by DB, it is clearly proved that every police officer must have body cameras. The responsibility for what is happening with police violence is on GERB, on the firefighter (referring to GERB leader Boyko Borissov) who claims to care so much about police officers."

Kostadin Angelov - GERB-UDF: "This law is receiving negative opinions because it duplicates existing regulations. Body cameras were introduced in Borissov's third term in office. Currently the Interior Ministry has 4,000 bodycams, we are waiting to learn why the police were not wearing bodycams."

Kostadin Kostadinov - leader of "Vazrazhdane": "We want the resignation of Daniel Mitov. If he has even a shred of integrity, he should resign immediately — not try to shift the blame to local police directors."

Delyan Peevski - leader of "MRF - New Beginning". We cannot be hasty with criticism, we cannot break down the systems in the country. If we are now going to castigate all police officers and the Ministry of Interior because of cases of individuals who must inevitably take their responsibility for what we have all seen, but we cannot put everyone under a common denominator. Plus to watch the party of poodles who will appoint secretaries general after they personally nominated Zhivko Kotsev and appointed him - the patron of smuggling channels - they have no right. They should go into a corner, keep quiet on the subject of the Interior Ministry.
BNT: Should Mitov resign?
- A firm no. I support him. He is a very democratically minded minister."

Kiril Dobrev, BSP - United Left: "There can be no social state where people die in nursing homes and others die on the street as a result of institutional violence and lack of control."

Radostin Vassilev - leader of MECh: "Daniel Mitov is the most incompetent minister who has ever appeared in this ministry and he should have left a long time ago, which became clear that he protects the smuggling rings in Plovdiv, that he protects organised crime in Burgas and therefore that for him there are no angels and demons in the system, there are only people who must be politically used."

Ivelin Mihaylov - leader of "Velichie": "For years, police officers have been prevented from doing their jobs because they don’t know who is friend and who is foe."

Lena Borislavova - WCC-DB MP: "Today we witnessed Delyan Peevski's defence of Daniel Mitov's total failure as Interior Minister. Which defense is very similar to the one given for a long time to Kalin Stoyanov. Whether in the next ranks of "MRF-New Beginnings" MP will be Daniel Mitov.
BNT: Would you take action for the resignation of Mitov?
- I officially want this resignation. A vote of no-confidence is coming and this will be one of the topics that our national council will discuss."