site.btaSofia Mayor Terziev: Arrest of Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev Is "Warning to All of Us"

Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev said Wednesday that the arrest of Blagomir Kotsev, the Mayor of the Black Sea city of Varna, is "a warning to every one of us". Kotsev was arrested shortly before midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday following a bribery tipoff. "This is not just political news. It is a warning for all of us," wrote Terziev in a Facebook post.

Both Terziev and Kotsev were nominated for mayors by the opposition party Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria. 

According to him, the arrest of Kotsev, based solely on the claims of a single individual, without evidence, witnesses, or recordings, "raises questions far bigger than the case itself". "When institutions that for years have turned a blind eye to corruption react to a single tip-off, and at a moment that is convenient for them, it creates reasonable doubt about how the law is applied. And in whose benefit," Terziev added.

He emphasized that this is not an isolated case, but rather an example of "how a system of selective justice operates".

"Today, it is the mayor in Varna. Tomorrow, it could be any one of us. If you file a report, they might investigate you instead of the guilty party," Terziev stated. "If you get hit on the road, the consequences will depend on who you are, not what happened. If you work with integrity, you risk being punished, not protected."

According to him, this is not just a matter of justice, "it is a matter of security: for us, our families, and the future of our city and country".

"The European Commission has made it clear: there are no convictions for high-level corruption, judicial reform is stalled, and our institutions are not sufficiently independent. That is the reality. And it won’t change on its own," wrote Terziev.

In moments like this, he said, "public support is invaluable".

"I’ve experienced it myself. It was your strength that helped me keep going when the system tried to crush me," Terziev stated. Because it is precisely the voice and activism of society that show we will not stay silent. That we will not allow fear to replace justice, he added.

He called on citizens to support Blagomir Kotsev by joining a protest at 6:00 pm in front of Varna City Hall. A protest is also scheduled outside the Counter-corruption Commission in Sofia on Wednesday evening.

Kotsev’s lawyer Milen Ralchev said that  at around 11:30 pm last night, a police detention order was served to the mayor of Varna , and he was taken to one of the police stations in the city. The arrest has caused an outrage in Bulgaria and a wave of comments by politicians.