The Ministry of the Interior is working on a series of signals to organize networks, involving police officers. It is a priority to exclude the border police from this type of criminal activity. This was explained by Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev during his hearing in the National Assembly. With these words he confirmed the thesis of the chief secretary this morning, according to which the Ministry of the Interior is clearing itself of bad apples. Demerdzhiev was called to the plenary hall to be responsible for the functioning of the interior department at the request of the BSP. The occasion was yesterday’s case in which a police officer transported migrants. Even the socialists demanded his resignation.
In the situation of this migratory pressure, The border police and the interior ministry are fine, assured interim Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev. The minister also made it clear Frontex is actively involved in the protection of the Bulgarian-Turkish border, as is Europol. To date, there are no complaints from the Turkish side, there are complaints against the border authorities in Greece, he stressed.
Demerdzhiev also presented statistics: in 2015 more than 18,000 migrants passed through the territory of the country, in 2016 – 21,600 migrants with very low migratory pressure, and in 2022 – more than 160,000 are attempts of migrants to cross the territory of the country, and those caught are 14,000 migrants . The interior ministry’s ambition is to saturate the border area with more police units.
Demerdzhiev is behind the personnel changes in the Ministry of Internal Affairs upon assuming the office of Interim Interior Minister. “Mr. Deyan Mollov has not coped with his duties as head of the border police, the pressure and number of migrants who have infiltrated the country has increased, and, according to his calculations, the curve of illegal immigration in our country is dropped very low,” Demerdzhiev said. Especially in Haskovo and Plovdiv region for example, the territorial structure of the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime needs to be improved.
What the Interior Minister wants is to let the next Interior Ministry bosses do the building a professional system where people are not constantly being removed. “This is my promise, which I would like the next ministers to follow, but more work needs to be done to strengthen the system,” commented Demerdzhiev.
It also became clear from Demerdzhiev’s words that police operations were carried out to identify the channelers and a significant number of people were arrested. He emphasized it The Interior Ministry is working on an even larger operationall services exchange information, the necessary data is collected and the police operation will be wide-ranging.
There is no evidence that other police officers were involved in the transport of 31 migrants by the police. He was followed from Burgas to the place where he was stopped and was involved in channeling for a long time. Acting Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told reporters after his hearing at the National Assembly.
It is satisfying for Demerdzhiev that when the other colleagues of a police officer saw his service card, they did not hesitate to handcuff and detain him, bring him to criminal responsibility, hand him over to the prosecutor’s office and remove him from office.
He pointed out that the detained police officer had provided information that he had participated in the transport of migrants on another occasion. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has gathered sufficient operational information in addition to this case with the aim of identifying more law enforcement officials who have engaged in unregulated activities and bringing them to criminal liability. Demerdzhiev explained that not only this policeman is being monitored, as a large-scale police operation is being prepared along the Bulgarian-Turkish border, which will not only take place on the territory of Bulgaria.
Demerdzhiev added that the routes and approaches of migrants are constantly changing, and for this reason, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is constantly changing its approach towards smugglers. He also gave an example that there were times when the Lviv bridge was flooded with migrants, and today there were no more such headlines in the media, and even Demerdzhiev would not allow them to exist.
He added that the case of more than 10 police officers who helped migrants is being investigated. There are several people in custody and there are many more cases in development. To work on such a channel, which is not a very easy task, special intelligence means are also used, Demerdzhiev explained. He is satisfied that for now there are more police officers working for the interest and development of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Demerdzhiev instructed the GDBOP to pay attention and monitor the actions of the border police on the Bulgarian-Turkish border both in terms of illegal migration and other types of crimes.
When asked about the 40 identified police officers involved in Georgi Semerdzhiev’s case, the minister noted that he will provide accurate data and that it will be issued as a press release, as he is not currently prepared on the matter.
When asked about New Year’s case, when he hit 3 police cars and then ran away, Demerdzhiev said the investigation into the case was still ongoing and an internal audit was also underway. Nothing justifies this behavior and the Interior Ministry will be intransigent. There is burnout in the police due to the extremely difficult conditions, and in addition to the fact that measures will be taken against those who perform anti-social acts, measures will also be taken to help them. Burnout syndrome is a fact and police officers suffer from it, stressed the interior minister.
More than 10,000 police officers were checked for alcohol and drug use and steps were taken to initiate disciplinary proceedings. The Ministry of the Interior continues all actions aimed at giving police officers a clear perspective, at protecting and enhancing the authority of the institution. Below 20% are the cases in which the use of drugs and alcohol in the blood of police officers has been found. In all cases steps will be taken to initiate disciplinary proceedings, the Interior Minister threatened.
In relation to the case of the 18-year-old boy detained for the murder in Rusensko, Demerdzhiev specified that he was aware of the case, but would not comment on it. The case is quite brutal and disgusting, but he doesn’t want to go into details.
From Demerdzhiev’s words, it also became clear that the Interior Ministry did not receive information from the Russian Interior Ministry because they were looking for the Bulgarian Hristo Grozev. Such a response is expected but is being delayed through diplomatic channels.
