Former chief secretaries of the Ministry of Interior – Prime Minister, MP, head of customs
This is part of an essay for the former heads of the Bulgarian special services. The idea was born after the successive shifts of men who know the most important secrets of the state. In the previous materials we told you about The 6 intelligence officers №1 – diplomacy, politics and a 10-year sentence for Kirov and for the intimate secrets of politicians buried deep by NSO generals.
The state is a stepmother, not a mother to former officers. Nobody is interested in the former generals, says Kalin Georgiev, who is probably the youngest chief secretary of the Interior Ministry. Only at the age of 38 was he promoted to general. He held the post from 2009 to 2013. After leaving the Ministry of Interior, he was head of security at the Bulgarian-American Credit Bank. He jokes that “everyone who left the Ministry of Interior is happy.”
“You are accumulating knowledge, you are accumulating sadness,” the former chief secretary Ecclesiastes was quoted as saying when he was dealing with so much information he had learned from the Interior Ministry. So far, no one has “allowed himself to offer him a bribe or anything that is against the law and morality.” He explains it this way: “These things are known in criminal circles, in the Ministry of Interior, in the services, and everywhere.”
According to Georgiev, there must come a time when the employees of the Ministry of Interior and the services will not be interested in who is a minister and prime minister. He cites the example of Austria, where years ago Interior Minister Maria Fekter tried to fire the chief secretary. She was convicted and he was sent back to work.
“The Ministry of Interior is not an administration, the Ministry of Interior is a force and part of the national security system. It’s not the road, it’s not the forest, “said the former secretary general. While in office, he fired only 6 directors, who can still say by name.
“When you release a person, you have to tell him why. You can’t fire him on the phone – Georgiev is convinced. He added: “There are no people left.”
When he became a general at the age of 38, it was a precedent, now “they have brought him to the point that senior executives were under 40:” They have no experience, not to mention that the link between generations is broken, there is no continuity, because everyone comes and wipes out.
At the peak of his professional career in the Ministry of the Interior, the post of Chief Secretary in the Ministry has fired at higher levels at least half of the police officers who have held it. The most emblematic is the case of Boyko Borissov – mayor of Sofia, leader of GERB and three times prime minister. He was Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior from 2001 to 2005 in the NMSS government. After them comes the three-party coalition. Rumen Petkov became Minister and Boyko Borisov left after a conflict between them.
“If I had not been expelled from the Ministry of Interior, I would still be marching on my square,” Borissov said. His career continues as mayor of Sofia. In 2006 he became the leader of GERB. He also won the regular mayoral elections in Sofia in 2007, and after the parliamentary victory in 2009 he became prime minister. A series of election victories followed, in which GERB was the hegemon. After three terms as prime minister, his political career will continue in the July 11 elections, when he will try to win the vote again.
Mladen Marinov also jumped from the post of chief secretary in the deep waters of politics. The career policeman rose to the rank of professional head of the Ministry of Interior – a sergeant in the Security Police. However, his resignation was up. In September 2018, Marinov became a minister. He lasted almost 2 years and was replaced in July 2020 due to doubts of the regional structures of GERB that he was connected with Delyan Peevski. After a few months break from politics, Marinov returned, already as a GERB MP, to the short-lived 45th National Assembly. Now he is again a candidate for the National Assembly.
Georgi Kostov, who was Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior in the second GERB government, also proved to be a valuable staff member for the state administration. The forensic scientist was released by the caretaker government of Rumen Radev in 2017. Then Kostov was in conflict with Minister Plamen Uzunov. However, his career did not end. In the third government of Boyko Borissov Kostov returned as head of the Customs Agency. 4 years working quietly but effectively until his replacement on May 14 this year.
Expect an interview with the lieutenant general. Rumen Milanov, former head of the NSCOC, NSO and BORCOR
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