site.btaPolice Launch Probe into Threats Against Jailed Varna Mayor’s Family

Pre-trial proceedings have been launched over threats made against the family of Blagomir Kotsev, the Mayor of the Black Sea city of Varna who was arrested on bribery charges over two months ago and remains in custody, the city’s police department confirmed for BTA.

Information about the incident was first shared on Kotsev’s Facebook page. According to the post, the threatening message was delivered to a restaurant run by Kotsev's family, where a young man brought four boxes of cigars with identical inscriptions and told one of the employees that the package was for the mayor’s sister. She does not smoke cigars. The inscription on the boxes read: “Quit smoking – stay alive for your loved ones.”

After receiving the package and consulting with a lawyer, a report was filed with the Varna police. The Facebook post states that a pre-trial investigation has been opened under Article 144, paragraph 3 of the Penal Code — for making a death threat.

The statement adds that the number of cigar boxes matches the number of children in Kotsev’s family, as well as the number of adult family members.

Kotsev won the mayoral elections in Varna in 2023 as a candidate of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria. He was arrested on July 7, 2025 under a police order tied to an investigation by the Counter-Corruption Commission and Sofia City Prosecution Office, based on a tipoff from a failed public procurement tenderer. He denies having done anything wrong. His lawyers claim that his extended detention is a miscarriage of justice. The court's refusal to release him has prompted dozens of protests in Varna, Sofia and other large cities. It also drew a reaction from the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament (where Kotsev's Continue the Change is affiliated) with calls for his release and warned of "an ongoing assault on democratic institutions and rule of law in Bulgaria".