Bulgarian government in reshuffle after mafia scandal

Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Rumen Petkov resigned on 13 April following a month-long corruption scandal that exposed links between government officials and mobsters, highlighting persistent problems in the new EU country. EURACTIV Bulgaria contributed to this report from Sofia.

Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), said Petkov’s resignation had been accepted and would lead to a “complete reshuffle” of the government. 

Petkov is a deputy chairman of the BSP and has become one of the country’s most influential politicians since the tripartite coalition government between the BSP, the National Movement Simeon the Second (NDSV) and the Movement of Rights and Freedoms (MRF) was established in 2005. 

Stanishev also said Petkov’s decision to resign was “normal” and “dignified”. But the opposition said the move was long overdue, since not just some of his closest aides but also Petkov himself had been exposed as having met with people linked to the criminal world. Petkov claimed that his contacts with controversial “businessmen” were aimed at obtaining important information in the fight against organised crime. 

But two high-profile murders took place last week in Sofia, adding to the widespread feeling that the mafia has the upper hand in the law enforcement in Bulgaria. While Stanishev initially stood by his minister, pressure from his coalition partners and even from within the BSP ranks for the Interior Minister to resign became too strong. 

More importantly, with the abstention of the NDSV during a no-confidence vote in Parliament on 10 April, the coalition, for the first time, fell short of the necessary majority of 121 votes. The motion, which had been introduced by the centre-right opposition, was nevertheless rejected by 117 votes from the BSP, the MRF and two independent MPs. However, the result meant that the government only survived because not all MPs were present at the vote. 

The Bulgarian media claims that Petkov’s resignation came following pressure from Brussels and Washington. But European Commission spokesperson Mark Gray told EURACTIV today that “the Commission did not put any pressure on the Bulgarian government to remove any specific ministers”. He said the Commission did not have anything to add to the conclusions of its February 2008 interim report on judiciary reform and the fighting against organised crime in Bulgaria. The report says that in key areas such as the fight against high-level corruption and organised crime, convincing results have not yet been demonstrated (EURACTIV 05/02/08). 

Bulgaria is under scrutiny from the Commission over its shortcomings in law enforcement and, in theory, a “safeguard clause” on Justice and Home Affairs could be imposed on the country. However, EU experts privately express doubts over the merits of such a measure, which has never been used before. At present, an EU fact-finding mission in Bulgaria under the mandate of the cooperation and verification mechanism. According to Mark Gray, the main aim for the moment is to verify the progress made in the country’s judicial sector reform rather than on organised crime or high-level corruption. 

Bulgarian newspapers such as Trud report that the next minister of the interior will be Lyubomir Ivanov, currently Bulgaria’s Ambassador to NATO. The daily Dnevnik writes that the “complete reshuffle” of the cabinet announced by Stanishev is also expected to involve the replacement of two more ministers – Minister of Agriculture Nihat Mabil (MRF) and Minister for Regional Development and Public Works Assen Gagauzov (BSP). 

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