site.btaProtest to Urge Supreme Judicial Council to Do Its Job and Remove Sarafov, CC Chair Vassilev Says

Speaking to reporters in Parliament’s lobby on Wednesday, Continue the Change Chair Assen Vassilev said a protest would be held on Wednesday evening in front of the Sofia Palace of Justice to call on the Supreme Judicial Council to “stop tearing meniscuses and start doing the job it is paid more than EUR 7,500 a month to do”.

“We have a unique chance to remove Borislav Sarafov from the post he is unlawfully occupying as [acting] Prosecutor General,” Vassilev said, adding that the Supreme Judicial Council is due to meet on Thursday at the request of Justice Minister Andrey Yankulov.

Asked how the new 28 regional governors had been selected, Vassilev said he had not chosen them himself and added that fair elections mean the Interior Ministry must stop vote-buying carried out by GERB and Movement for Rights and Freedoms. He said that to achieve this, all “protective umbrellas” installed in the Interior Ministry by former minister and current MRF – New Beginning MP Kalin Stoyanov must be removed.

Responding to allegations that the new leadership of the Interior Ministry was attempting to cover up CC-DB in the so-called Petrohan case, Vassilev said an international investigation had been requested, which he described as the only way to establish the full truth. “I do not trust the Bulgarian prosecuting magistracy on this case after the 15 versions they have floated, none of which match each other or reality,” he said.

Asked whether it had been clear, when proposing a 5% pay indexation in the public sector, that this could be financed in the absence of a regular 2026 state budget, Vassilev replied that it had been clear and that he did not know why institutions had not adjusted salaries accordingly.

“If you look at inflation growth plus economic growth, that is well above 5%, which means VAT revenues and all other tax and social security revenues have risen by more than 5%. With average wages up 10% last year, it is obvious that personal taxes and social security contributions have increased by at least 10%,” he said. “With inflation at around 4–5% and economic growth of about 3–4%, this means there is at least 8–9% growth in VAT revenues, so this 5% increase in expenditure can easily be covered.”

According to Vassilev, more worrying are figures released after the appointment of the new finance minister showing a deficit of EUR 900 million by mid-February. “This has not happened in the past 30 years. We know that January recorded a surplus of EUR 200 million, which means that massive payments were made in February,” he added.

Vassilev also said that information already obtained and submitted in a written question to the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works shows that prices under road repair contracts signed in 2024 and 2025 have been indexed upward by 50%.