"Today's terror attack is not just an attempt on the Prosecutor General's life, but an assault on a state authority, and therefore, on statehood," the Speaker of Bulgaria’s Parliament, Rosen Zhelyazkov, said on May 1 commenting on the explosion against the car of Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General. Ivan Geshev.
"This is an assault on Bulgaria's international prestige. At a time when the country is seeking entry in Schengen and the euro zone, it is difficult to predict what repercussions such an act would have. Such acts have not been witnessed since 1990ties, by nearly two generations. Unfortunately, today we are witnessing the echoes of those times. This is the first assassination attempt in Bulgaria's modern history against an incumbent official," Zhelyazkov added.
"It is essential that the state's reaction be clear and firm through the security services, the investigating authorities and the whole judiciary. The National Service for Protection, the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and the Ministry of Interior should in a coordinated and uncompromising way identify and bring to justice as quickly as possible the perpetrators of today's terror attack which left the public with a sense of anxiety about what is happening in Bulgaria," Zhelyazkov further said.
"We cannot let this happen in Europe, in a Member State which claims to have met all the criteria to join Schengen and the euro zone, but puts at risk the security of its citizens and the normal functioning of the state authorities. We must be firm and make sure that we preserve the Bulgarians' trust in the state, in statehood and the normal functioning of the security systems. Nothing is more important than the security of the Bulgarian citizens, and the security of the authorities is a prerequisite for this," he said.