site.btaUPDATED Interior Caretaker Minister Dechev Seeks Interior Ministry Secretary General Rashkov's Dismissal

Caretaker Minister of the Interior Emil Dechev on Monday sought the dismissal of the Ministry’s Secretary General, Miroslav Rashkov, saying the post is central to ensuring fair and lawful elections.

Speaking after the caretaker government’s first meeting, Dechev said he asked the Council of Ministers to adopt a decision requesting President Iliana Iotova to dismiss Rashkov. He added that the government had approved the decision and forwarded it to Iotova.

“We, as a caretaker government, do not have much time to organize fair, just and lawful elections,” Dechev said.

Dechev cited several grounds. First, he pointed to the organization of last year’s local elections in Pazardzhik, which he said was poor and marked by a slow police response, leaving citizens to step in to prevent vote-buying.

Second, he criticized police action under Rashkov’s command during protests on November 26, 2025, saying the response to extremist provocations was slow and ineffective, allowing arson and stone-throwing that endangered protesters and officers.

Third, Dechev said the Ministry’s senior professional leadership was absent from public view after reports of a horrific crime at Petrohan Hut, providing no public information and fuelling conspiracy theories and anxiety.

He also cited the unresolved July 2025 case involving threats against the mayor of the village of Bistritsa, where two masked men entered the mayor’s office and asked for him. The perpetrators have not been identified, Dechev said, and he linked the lack of results to a recent escalation in which the mayor’s car and the front door of his home were set on fire.

As another reason, Dechev said five on-the-spot traffic penalty notices had been issued to Rashkov under the Road Traffic Act. He said all five were paid on Monday after he ordered a review, shortly after the information became public.

Dechev also appealed for help in locating Deputy Secretary General Yavor Semerdzhiev. He said he told Semerdzhiev on Friday they would have to part ways, and that Semerdzhiev asked for time to think and promised to inform him in person on Monday morning. Semerdzhiev did not appear and did not answer repeated calls, Dechev said. “Help me find the Deputy Secretary General. I want to talk to him,” he added.