site.btaPM Radev: Government Plans Legislative Changes to Tackle Youth Violence

The Government will propose legislative changes on youth violence by the end of September, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Friday. Speaking at a media briefing in Pleven, he was responding to a question about the killing of Georgi Kuzev at Youth Hill in Plovdiv. “What is happening with some young people is extremely worrying,” Radev said.

“The local municipal commissions are not working. Absolutely nothing is happening there. We must bring work in schools and with parents to the fore so that such things do not happen. It comes down to upbringing,” Radev added.

Radev noted that restrictions on adolescents’ access to social media were also under consideration. “The facts cannot be ignored. Such grave and brutal acts, accompanied by Nazi symbols, are the result of a process that has been taking root in these young people’s minds for years. When you destroy and desecrate monuments, alter and rewrite history, and instil different values in young people, you end up with such catastrophic consequences,” Radev said.

He added that it would take considerable time for things to return to normal.

Radev was in Pleven to present diplomas to graduating officer cadets and certificates of professional qualification as sergeants to cadets from the 75th April 2026 Class of the Georgi Benkovski Bulgarian Air Force Academy.

Ten teenagers aged between 14 and 17 were detained after Kuzev, 37, died following an assault at Youth Hill on August 4. Five of them, three boys and two girls, were charged with murder and remanded in custody.

Following the killing, three child rights organizations sought cooperation with Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev to prevent the online radicalization of children and young people. They called for stronger public action, while the Interior Ministry’s Cybercrime Directorate monitors social media for reports of aggression and threats in an effort to prevent similar incidents.