site.btaInterior Minister Mitov Blames Predecessors for Controversy with Religious Icons for Road Safety

At a news briefing at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, Interior Minister Daniel Mitov said that the practice of purchasing religious icons as a means to reduce road traffic accidents was introduced under the cabinet of Kiril Petkov, with Boyko Rashkov as interior minister.

On May 25, the Interior Ministry said that it had launched an internal investigation regarding a public procurement tied to road safety. The probe was ordered by Mitov and is being conducted under expedited procedures. It concerns a national road safety awareness campaign for children.

At Wednesday’s briefing, Mitov said he had initiated the investigation in response to public scrutiny over the procurement, "in which some noticed small icons that became the subject of extensive public debate".

"The iconoclasts and chatterers have fallen into their own trap. I see them pointing fingers and staging a performance," Mitov remarked. According to him, "the drama is cheap, the actors are amateurs, and the script comes straight from the archive of their previous term of office".

Mitov stressed that initial findings from the investigation revealed that the practice of purchasing icons as a tool for reducing road traffic trauma began on April 26, 2022, under the Petkov cabinet. The decision, according to Mitov, was personally signed by then-interior minister Boyko Rashkov, and backed by government spokesperson and chief of staff Lena Borislavova. The approved items included icons for vehicles dedicated to the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, as well as small magnet icons accompanied by thematic messages of luck. The procurement contract was later signed by Rashkov’s successor, Ivan Demerdzhiev.

"The big talkers have landed in their own trap," Mitov concluded.