site.btaUPDATED PM: This Marks Only the Beginning of Judicial Reforms

Regarding Borislav Sarafov stepping down as Head of National Investigative Service and Deputy Prosecutor General, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said it is just the beginning of reforming the judicial system. Radev was speaking at a news briefing prior to a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris Wednesday.

Sarafov announced his resignation as National Investigative Service chief and deputy prosecutor general earlier on Wednesday. He asked to remain as rank-and-file prosecutor. The Prosecutors Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council later accepted the resignation.

"This is a start that our society has long awaited, as the process was blocked for purely political reasons. I welcome the fact that Sarafov heeded the government's calls to resign," Radev said.

The Prime Minister said that the problems in the judiciary are also highlighted in recent revelations about illegal construction near Varna.

On May 26, Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev announced that authorities had halted the construction of an illegal residential complex in the Baba Alino area near this Black Sea city, allegedly linked to a Ukrainian investor.

Radev connected the case to what he described as “processes directed against Bulgaria’s national security”.

The president recalled that a year ago he publicly questioned why the State Agency for National Security (SANS)had revoked an expulsion order against a Ukrainian citizen allegedly leading the KUB group - the company with the illegal development project near Varna, just two weeks after issuing it. According to Radev, the regional SANS office in Varna had provided substantial evidence of activities threatening national security, but no institutional action followed. He said he had sought explanations from SANS and local authorities but received no answers, adding that the issue had effectively “disappeared” - until the latest developments brought it back into focus.