Parliament rejected Presidential veto on changes to Interior Ministry Act

Bulgaria’s Parliament voted on July 1 to reject President Rumen Radev’s veto on the Interior Ministry Act amendments, which will task a new ministry department with protection of senior state officials.

According to the amendments, the gendarmerie and anti-terrorism unit of the Ministry of interior would be merged into a new directorate, which would have protection as part of its responsibilities.

The President had returned the.draft for new discussion with the motive that there will be overlapping of functions with those of the National Service for Protection.

He said that this would potentially lead to ineffective and inefficient use of state resources without guarantees for higher security.