The motion to cancel Peevski’s appointment was voted by 128 MPs, all in favour. Opposition party GERB, true to Boiko Borissov’s promise a day earlier, did not attend the session.

Given the public opposition to Peevski’s return as an MP, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) said that they would ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the issue.

MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan said Parliament never accepted Peevski’s resignation as an MP, the only way his mandate could be terminated. “Since there are doubts in the public space, let the only competent institution, the Constitutional Court, speak on the issue. Until then, Delyan Peevski will not set foot in Parliament and will not receive any compensation,” Mestan said.

Socialist leader Sergei Stanishev said his party will join the MRF query to the Constitutional Court. He offered apologies to party members who were disappointed by the row, saying that he alone, and not the party’s MPs, was responsible for the decision to push Peevski’s nomination.

“I want to make it clear that this proposal was made with the purest motive, to get real results instead of a simulation of activity. We will reach this goal, even if it is going to be more difficult because of this political mistake we have made,” Stanishev said.

Peevski – who was elected to Parliament on the MRF ticket and served as deputy minister in the Stanishev cabinet in 2005/09 (he was briefly fired by Stanishev for his involvement in a corruption row, but later reinstated by court decision) – was elected director of SANS on June 14, triggering the first in a series of protest rallies. The focus of the protests, initially directed against his appointment, has quickly shifted to demand the resignation of the Plamen Oresharski cabinet.

The legal quandary in this case is that Peevski’s resignation from Parliament was never voted by his fellow MPs; according to reports in Bulgarian media, he submitted such a request, but later withdrew it.

After his speedy election, Peevski took the oath of office and held a meeting with the prosecutor-general on the same day, but – as he said in the statement announcing his readiness to step down on June 15 – he had not signed the contract for his new position.

According to former constitutional court judge Georgi Markov, quoted by Sega daily, the request was superfluous because the court has already issued rulings in similar cases. In 1993, the court ruled that any MP appointed as director of a state agency automatically lost their standing as member of Parliament, Markov said.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

Ataka leader Volen Siderov used the opportunity to accuse political rivals GERB of paying protesters to attack his party’s headquarters, saying that the police were accomplice to the attempts to denigrate Ataka.

On Twitter, the calls to avoid Ataka’s headquarters used the #ignorevolen hashtag, in addition to the #дансwithme hashtag used since the start of the protests on June 14. Similar appeals were made on Facebook.

The protest on June 18 is scheduled to begin at the same time (6.30pm) and the same place (the Cabinet building at 1 Dondukov Boulevard) as on the previous days.

* Socialist leader Sergei Stanishev, facing calls to resign from several party heavyweights and local party organisations, said on June 18 that doing so would trigger a leadership fight and weaken the Cabinet of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski. Doing so would pave the road for GERB’s return to government, Stanishev was quoted as saying.

Stanishev too accused GERB of paying people to “infiltrate the protests” and cause unrest. He said that GERB has been preparing “a scenario of destabilisation” after the May elections put the party out of government.

Despite rejecting the resignation calls, Stanishev said that the socialist executive bureau was prepared to ask for a vote of confidence at the extraordinary meeting of the party’s national council, scheduled for June 20.

In recent days, several of Stanishev’s rivals within the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), including former president Georgi Purvanov, who made an unsuccessful leadership challenge last year, have asked for Stanishev’s resignation and an emergency meeting of the party congress to elect a new leadership.

* Meanwhile, the socialist party organisations in Blagoevgrad and Plovdiv were joined by the Pazardjik socialists in opposition to the new regional governors, seen as nominated by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and appointed by Oresharski.

MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan told Bulgarian National Television that his party was not in a formal coalition with the BSP, although it did back the Oresharski government. He said that a concerted effort was being made to present the party in a bad light and “resurrect the myth” of a “power-hungry” MRF.

* Mestan also said that the resignation of Delyan Peevski – whose appointment as the director of the State Agency for National Security triggered the anti-government protests on June 14 – as an MP was not voted by Parliament, so there was no legal obstacle for Peevski to return to the Parliament bench if his appointment was cancelled.

A motion to cancel Peevski’s appointment has been submitted to Parliament and a vote was expected on June 19, according to reports in Bulgarian media. The Parliament did not list its agenda for the June 19 sitting.

GERB MP Tsetska Tsacheva, the speaker in the previous legislature, said that the party would challenge such an outcome at the Constitutional Court, arguing that the motion to cancel Peevski’s appointment was without legal grounds.

* GERB would stay out of Parliament and would only sit on sessions discussing amendments to the Electoral Code, party leader and former prime minister Boiko Borissov said. The first meetings on such amendments, between Deputy Speaker Maya Manolova and NGOs, were held on June 18.

Borissov said that his intention was to avoid “provocations” from the parties in the ruling coalition. “BSP and MRF have reached the bottom. BSP will only fall further and will try their best to drag us down with them,” he told reporters after a meeting of the GERB parliamentary group.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

“Under the new legislation, credit rating agencies will have to be more transparent and accountable when rating sovereign states. The new rules will also contribute to increased competition in the ratings industry currently dominated by a few market players and will reduce the over-reliance on ratings by financial market participants,” internal market and services commissioner Michel Barnier said.

Credit ratings agencies could be held liable if they infringe “intentionally or with gross negligence” the EU Regulation on credit rating agencies (Regulation 1060/2009), causing damages to an issuer or investor.

The agencies will be required to publish a calendar of when they will rate EU’s member states, limiting them to three rating actions a year for unsolicited sovereign ratings; derogations would be allowed only “in exceptional circumstances and subject to appropriate explanations,” the EC said.

All available ratings will have to be published on the European Rating Platform, once it becomes available in June 2015. This will improve the comparability and visibility of ratings of financial instruments rated by rating agencies registered and authorised in the EU, according to the Commission.

The new rules are also meant to reduce reliance on external ratings, requiring financial institutions to strengthen their own credit risk assessment and not to rely solely and mechanistically on external credit ratings.

“European Supervisory Authorities should also avoid references to external credit ratings and will be required to review their rules and guidelines and where appropriate, remove credit ratings where they have the potential to create mechanistic effects,” the EC said.

The new rules were proposed by the European Commission in November 2011 to strengthen existing legislation passed in 2009 and 2010 in the wake of the euro zone crisis.

(Photo: G Schouten de Jel)

Announced last week, the PES council at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia is meant to “kick-start the preparations for the 2014 EU elections,” according to the statement on the PES website. NDK, built as the Cold War winded down to host the congresses of the Bulgarian communist party, lies squarely on the route taken by the protesters’ march every evening so far.

The announcement went unnoticed at the time by Bulgarian media, but made headlines late on June 17, even as the anti-government protests continued for a fourth consecutive evening.

Stanishev, already under fire from inside the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), will hear more criticism from European socialists, some of whom have already called for his resignation as PES leader, commentary pieces in Bulgarian media said.

French socialist Martine Aubry, the mayor of Lille and former French socialist leader, is one of those calling for Stanishev to step down, according to Bulgarian media, with Spanish socialists also in opposition to Stanishev.

Meanwhile, the leader of the socialist group in European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda, said he was surprised by the Bulgarian government’s nomination of Delyan Peevski as head of the State Agency for National Security, tweeting that “there must be more competent ones.”

The rallies against Peevski’s appointment have continued even after the socialist-led ruling coalition agreed to cancel the appointment, as protesters turned their ire against the government and the two parties backing it in Parliament.

(Sergey Stanishev photo by bsp.bg)

Lazslo Csatary, who was detained by Hungarian authorities last year, has denied the charges.

He was arrested on information provided by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish organization active in hunting down Nazis who have yet to be brought to justice.

The Hungarian prosecution office says Csatary’s trial is expected to start within three months.

Last year, the Wiesenthal Center named Csatary as its most wanted war crimes suspect.

The Nazi-hunting organization says the former senior Hungarian police officer helped organize the deportation of thousands of Jews to the Auschwitz death camp in 1944.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center says of Csatary that “the passage of time in no way diminishes his guilt and old age should not afford protection for Holocaust perpetrators.”

Source: VOANews.com

(Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest. Photo Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency says at least 25 people were detained Tuesday in the capital, Ankara, while many others were arrested in Istanbul and Izmir.

Earlier, Turkish police arrested several people holding a silent protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.

Turkey has seen violent anti-government protests in several cities across the country for nearly three weeks.

The government said Monday it may use the army to help stop the protests, if police power is not enough.

Two major Turkish trade unions, representing hundreds of thousands of workers, held a nationwide strike Monday against the police crackdown on Gezi Park demonstrators.

Most of the strikes were peaceful, but riot police faced off briefly Monday with about 1,000 trade union workers in Ankara.

Small-scale clashes with protesters occurred in Istanbul on the sidelines of a demonstration called by labor groups.

On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the street protests were manipulated by “terrorists.” He dismissed opposition allegations that he was behaving like a dictator.

Protests that started nearly three weeks ago against government plans to tear down the park for new construction quickly built into nationwide protests against Mr. Erdogan. The demonstrators accuse him of imposing his conservative Islamic views on the country.

Source: VOANews.com

(Photo: gregg.carlstrom/flickr.com)

“The events of the past night clearly showed that the late hours are used for provocation by aggressive groups that seek confrontation. I am certain that people want to keep the peaceful nature of their protest,” she said.

Eight people sustained minor injuries on the fourth day of anti-government rallies in Bulgarian capital Sofia, Bulgarian National Radio reported, but tight police lines prevented a direct clash between the protesters and supporters of ultra-nationalist party Ataka.

The injuries, which came on both sides of the police blockade, were the result of bottles and stones thrown over police lines, Focus news agency said. The injured people received first aid, some of them in the Pirogov emergency hospital, but none of the injuries were serious enough to require overnight stay in the hospital, the report said.

Police estimated at least 7000 people turned out on June 17 to protest against the appointment of Delyan Peevski as director of the State Agency for National Security and demand the resignation of the Plamen Oresharski cabinet.

Following the pattern established in the previous day, the protesters gathered at the Cabinet building, moving on to Parliament and then the National Palace of Culture (NDK). The protesters then marched by the empty offices of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) – the two parties in the ruling coalition.

Police lines were present at both the BSP and MRF buildings, but no clashes were reported there. According to some reports in local media, bottles and stones were thrown at the socialist headquarters.

At Ataka’s headquarters, however, party supporters parked cars across Rakovski street earlier in the evening, cutting off traffic even before protests started. Ataka leader Volen Siderov complained, earlier in the day, that the party headquarters was attacked the previous night, blaming the party of former prime minister Boiko Borissov, GERB, of instigating such attacks and paying the attackers.

He said he was determined not to allow a repeat of the attacks, but the heavy police presence appeared to incite some of the protesters.

More than a hundred police officers were deployed to cut off access from the streets near Ataka’s headquarters, with tension steadily escalating as some of the protesters grew restless, while others left. Unlike at the other party headquarters, riot police had to be deployed as projectiles were thrown from both sides.

Siderov, who has provided the necessary vote for the quorum on the day that Oresharski’s cabinet was voted into office, has drawn the most unflattering (and unprintable) chants since the start of the protests.

On June 18, Siderov said that his party was under attack by political rivals who employed paid “criminal elements”, abetted by police inaction. He claimed to have received a permit from Sofia municipality to hold his own rally, a claim refuted by the city hall.

Given the loud chanting from the protesters and the use of a megaphone by Siderov after 10pm, both sides were guilty of breaching the peace and were in violation of city hall regulations, Fandukova said.

(Police line on Moskovska Street, one of several police cordons set up late on June 17 to cut off access to Ataka’s headquarters.)

The tense situation continued past midnight, with large contingents of police keeping apart the protesters from the supporters of Bulgaria’s ultra-nationalist party, which the protesters see as culpable in the debacle surrounding the current Bulgarian Socialist Party government, which stays in place with the support of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

The protesters who went to Ataka headquarters were a group that apparently had come from the fourth consecutive night of demonstrations that attracted several thousand people to demand that the Plamen Oresharski administration step down.

Earlier, Siderov had illegally blocked off the street near his headquarters, addressing a crowd from behind a throng of his beefier supporters. The Interior Ministry confirmed to the media that the blocking off of the street had been illegal and said that it was investigating.

Later, the situation was aggravated as obscenities and objects were hurled. Those reportedly injured included an Ataka MP, Kristian Dimitrov.

Protesters, who blame Ataka for its vote that provided the quorum in Parliament that made the BSP government possible three weeks ago, shouted at the Ataka group that they were “Janissaries”, a reference to the force that was made up partly from Bulgarians under Ottoman rule. At the earlier mainstream part of the protest in central Sofia, outside the Cabinet office and Parliament, some protesters carried posters mocked-up to show Siderov wearing a fez.

Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev told local media that police were seeking to stabilise the situation and to keep it from worsening.

Speaking to journalists, while his head was sheltered by boards held by supporters to keep any flying objects from falling on it, Siderov pointed to the “aggression” of the protesters.

It was not the first time that Ataka’s headquarters have been the focus of protest since the BSP government, which includes MRF members, came into office. Soon after the administration was sworn in on May 29, a protest marched on Ataka headquarters, hurling abuse and objects at the building, prompting Siderov to hit out at authorities for failing to protect the building of his party.

Siderov has alleged that centre-right former ruling party GERB is behind the nationwide protests, seeking to destabilise the country,  a charge that GERB rejects. Siderov said that GERB and “organised crime groups” allied to Boiko Borissov’s party were seeking to provoke civil war in Bulgaria.

As events unfolded on the night of June 17, Siderov addressed the crowd, his words applauded by supporters and jeered by protesters.

A few days ago, amid the protests – organised in social networks and which with this exception have passed peacefully, with no clashes – warnings were issued online that agents provocateur would seek to engender an incident at Ataka headquarters.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

In a statement, the church said that the parade “threatens the moral foundations of our society and our children’s health and the Bulgarian nation as a whole”.

“Homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality are particularly harmful and unnatural violation of God’s commandment and blessing of marital love between a man and a woman, as an indispensable basis for normal and blissful existence of mankind, for the continued prosperity of society and the positive development of children’s personalities,” the Holy Synod said, calling on the authorities to revoke permission for Sofia Pride, which this year takes place on June 22.

The theme of this year’s Sofia Pride is “acceptance”.

Sofia Pride has grown as an event over the years, albeit with some incidents of threats and harassment from religious and extremist circles.

The organisers of Sofia Pride say that the main short-term goal is the acceptance and equal treatment of all Bulgarian citizens, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Sofia Pride “has the potential to achieve this by increasing the visibility of otherwise hidden and marginalized community of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT), and thereby give rise to a public debate on prejudice and discrimination against them,” organisers say.

In the same way that church condemnation has been traditional, so support from members of the diplomatic community has become.

Ahead of this year’s Sofia Pride, a joint statement by ambassadors in Sofia said, “we would like to convey our support to all people who either actively participate in or sympathise with this year’s Sofia Pride March on June 22 2013.

“Promoting the principle of equal treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people is an important aspect of a tolerant and respectful civil society. No one should ever be discriminated against based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. By signing this statement we would like to stress that any democratic society should stand up for openmindedness and tolerance towards the LGBTI community.

We want to encourage the public and the national authorities to support and defend these values. We want to show our solidarity to all the people joining the Pride. We wish everyone a peaceful and happy celebration,” the statement said.

The statement was signed by the ambassadors of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, and by the chargé d’affaires of the embassies of Lithuania, Serbia and South Africa.

(Photo: Patrik Millikin/sxc.hu)

Triggered by the rapid-fire appointment of Delyan Peevski as director of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) on June 14, the rallies have increasingly become an expression of disaffection with the Oresharski cabinet and the parliamentary coalition backing it.

The latest rally on June 16 was the largest so far – according to police estimates, 15 000 people participated in the protest in Sofia alone. In Bulgaria’s second city, Plovdiv, official figures indicated that turnout on Sunday was triple that the previous day, at 3000. New rallies are being planned for June 17, with the largest Facebook group calling for continued protests growing to more than 72 000 members.

* After strongly protesting Peevski’s appointment on June 14, describing it as “a triumph of backdoor politics”, Rossen Plevneliev praised the protest rallies as a show of “strong democratic culture” in Bulgaria’s society. “The people spoke very clearly – we want to be governed by people with a moral compass, who would not rob us and lie to us,” he said on June 17. Having already called a meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security to discuss the recent reforms in the law enforcement sector, adopted by Parliament, Plevneliev said that he was expanding the agenda of the meeting to include the current crisis.

“This means that on Thursday we will debate not only reforms in the security sector and the appointments, and the way in which they were made, but we will also discuss the situation in Bulgaria and what are the proper measures to exit this crisis. By Thursday, I expect the parliamentary-represented parties to consolidate their opinions and come to the presidency with clear positions – will there be resignations and whose, if any,” Plevneliev said.

Despite saying after the Peevski nomination that the Cabinet exhausted its “credit of trust”, Plevneliev said that he was prepared “within my constitutional powers, to work with them and support, or not create obstacles, for any rational idea that moves the nation forward in this situation.”

* Speaking on the breakfast show of private broadcaster bTV, in his first live media appearance since the start of the protests, Oresharski said that Peevski’s nomination was “clearly a mistake”, which had “underestimated the controversial image created about Mr Peevski.”

Oresharski said that he was concerned with the protests, but had no intention to step down, saying that his resignation would not solve any of the problems faced by Bulgaria, since it would only lead to snap elections that would, most likely, result once again in a hung parliament. “If I lose the parliamentary support [...] I will tender my resignation. As for public opinion, this is something that we can work on,” he said.

He said that he would once again meet representatives of protesting groups – as he had on June 14, when some of them left the meeting in protest against the Peevski appointment. He said that he had also invited representatives of the 22 civil society NGOs who demanded a new and transparent appointment proceedings for SANS director.

In a letter, the NGOs said that they would not attend the meeting because their initial requests, which included overturning Peevski’s appointment, had not been met.

* During his TV appearance on June 17, Oresharski repeatedly refused to answer the question who put forth Peevski’s nomination in the first place. Peevski is an MP for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which has come under fire for the “disproportionate” influence it was being given in government – both by protesters and some voices in their coalition partner, the socialists.

In Blagoevgrad, the newly-appointed regional governor Moussa Palev – whose appointment was opposed by the local socialist party organisation – had managed to enter the building of the regional administration only after police forcefully pushed aside protesters gathered in front of it. The small rally continued even after that, under police oversight, but Palev avoided facing the protesters for a second time, exiting the building through a backdoor, local media reported.

In Plovdiv, the influential head of the local party organisation, Georgi Gergov, said on June 17 that the local socialists did not accept the appointment of Ventsislav Kaimakanov as regional governor. Kaimakanov, a businessman, said that he was nominated by Oresharski, but is seen locally as another MRF nominee.

Gergov said that the Plovdiv socialists demanded that the appointment is rescinded: “It is an issue of honour, but the people of Plovdiv and the socialists in Plovdiv do not deserve such treatment.”

* The growing rebellion in socialist ranks against socialist leader Sergei Stanishev was to be manifested with a protest in front of the party headquarters at Positano Street in Sofia – organised by one of its own MPs, Georgi Kadiev. In a message on Facebook, Kadiev called on all “socialist members and left-wing voters who feel betrayed” to band together and show that “we are not part of the backroom dealings, but part of that Bulgaria that wants honesty and honour in politics.”

Kadiev was among the most vocal opponents of Peevski’s appointment in the socialist ranks, apologising to his followers on Facebook; he was also one of the first voices to call for Stanishev’s resignation as party leader, at the weekend.

A similar call came on June 17 from former president Georgi Purvanov, whose challenge to Stanishev as party leader at the party congress in 2012 fizzled out without making much impact. Purvanov asked for an emergency meeting of the party’s national council, which would be tasked with assessing the situation “created as a result of the myopic and irresponsible actions of the socialist party leadership.”

* Meanwhile, nationalist Ataka leader Volen Siderov blamed the protests on former prime minister Boiko Borissov and “gangsters working with him”, who were allegedly “preparing terrorist acts”. Siderov, whose vote provided the necessary quorum to vote the Oresharski cabinet in power, has been one of the targets of less-than-complimentary chants during the protests.

On June 15, the Ataka leader was caught unaware by a small group of protesters in the early hours of the morning and had to answer uncomfortable questions without his usual entourage, according to reports in Bulgarian media. In June 16, however, Siderov and a number of his supporters appeared in front of Parliament at the end of the protest, engaging in a shouting match with reporters and protesters, mediapool.bg reported.

Siderov also, reportedly, accused police officers of failing to protect an MP from hooliganism. On June 17, he said that he would ask prosecutors to investigate reporters for “incitement to breach public peace” and “creating organised crime groups” that targeted Ataka MPs at Borissov’s orders.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said Monday that if police power is not enough, “elements of the Turkish Armed Forces” will assist to maintain order.

His comments came as five major Turkish trade unions began a nationwide strike against the police crackdown on the Gezi Park demonstrators. The unions, which together represent hundreds of thousands of workers, called for the police violence to “end immediately.”

Most of the strikes were peaceful, but riot police used tear gas and water cannon Monday to prevent about 1,000 trade union workers from marching in the capital, Ankara. More marches took place in Istanbul and other cities, despite government warnings they would not be tolerated.

On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told hundreds of thousands of supporters it was his “duty” to evict the activists from Gezi Park and the adjacent Taksim Square. He said the two weeks of street protests were manipulated by “terrorists” and he dismissed opposition allegations that he was behaving like a dictator.

Protests that started two weeks ago against government plans to tear down the park for new construction quickly built into nationwide protests against Erdogan. The demonstrators accuse him of imposing his conservative Islamic views on the country.

The prime minister told protesters last week that he would put redevelopment plans for the park on hold until a court rules on them. He also said he would hold a referendum on the issue if the court rules in the government’s favor.

The resignation comes only days after prosecutors indicted seven people, including Necas’s chief of staff, Jana Nagyova, on charges ranging from abuse of power to bribery and money laundering.

Necas, who initially said he would not step down, announced his intention to resign late on June 16. He met with president Milos Zeman on June 17 and was expected to formally submit his resignation in the evening, Czech news agency CTK reported.

The prime minister’s resignation automatically triggers the fall of his government. Left-wing opposition parties have called for early elections, but Necas’s Civic Democrats and their coalition partners, TOP 09, were in talks to nominate a new prime minister, Radio Prague said. The next scheduled elections in the Czech Republic are in spring 2014.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Civic Democrats executive board, Necas said that he hoped that the government would continue under a prime minister nominated by his party.

Concerning his own role, he said: “I am fully aware of the problems of my personal life burdening the political scene and the [Civic Democrats] … I am aware of the consequences for me. I want to stress that I am aware of my political responsibility. I draw the conclusions from it.”

Necas’s chief of staff Nagyova, as well as the current and former heads of the military counter-intelligence service, have been charged with abuse of power. The service is alleged to have had Necas’s wife – whom Necas recently said he planned to divorce – shadowed on Nagyova’s order.

Local tabloids have speculated about Necas’s relationship with Nagyova for months, but the police were still investigating whether Necas knew about Nagyova’s alleged actions, CTK reported.

Separately, two former MPs for Necas’s Civic Democrats party were charged with bribery and money laundering, with Nagyova alleged to have offered them lucrative posts in state-owned companies in exchange for leaving parliament.

(Petr Necas photo by government of the Czech Republic press service)

German company Behr-Hella Thermocontrol (BHTC) GmbH is the first tenant of the Bozhurishte industrial area on the outskirts of Sofia, investing 42.5 million leva to set up a research and development centre and manufacturing facilities.

The BHTC project, which will create at least 350 jobs, involves a manufacturing facility and research and development centre for the production of equipment for the management and maintenance of air conditioning systems for motor vehicles.

“We have a lot to give Europe, the world and its modern development,” Plevneliev said, underlining that BHTC had been very careful about its choice and had decided on investing in Bulgaria. The firm was awarded a Class A investment certificate by the Economy Ministry in April.

Others at the ceremony included Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova, Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoinev, Valeri Andreev, the executive director of the National Company Industrial Zones and Assen Vassilev, who was economy and energy minister in the Marin Raykov caretaker cabinet.

(Photos: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

From the seasonal rainstorms on Friday night, that belted down and sent participants scurrying for shelter in the very eaves of the Cabinet building that was the focus of their outrage, to the pleasanter summer evening of Sunday, the protests – and their rising numbers, to an official count of 15 000 in Sofia on June 16, by half more than the day before – have been conducted with wry good humour.

But also, determination. And also too, the practices of protest, Bulgarian-style.

Those practices have their own traditions, distant and recent. “Jump if you’re not Red,” and, obligingly and enthusiastically, sneakers and shoes bounce off the yellow cobblestones below, in reminiscence of the anti-communist protests of yore.

And yet. Some of the faces and posters are of much more recent vintage, carrying on from those protests that were mobilised against high electricity prices in the grim chill of the early months of 2013.

The distillery that has prompted these protests of June 2013 has much material for its high-grade concoction. In the way that the potency of the national tipple drips from the metal in which it is heated, this is a product slow but steady in the making.

It is a blend of cynicism and optimism, distilled in these warm days of the early summer. No doubt, there are many on the square who have been here before, perhaps long ago in the early days of transition, certainly more recently in that well-mobilised campaign of the early days of this year.

It is they who have seen the pangs of birth that was the May 2013 elections in Bulgaria produce just one more clone from the same gene pool, the self-seeking politician. It is they who hold the posters reading: “BSP – MRF – GERB – Ataka – out of Parliament!” (one may dwell on the contradictions of those who cry for democracy and when presented with the results of an election that put these four, and them alone, in the 42nd National Assembly, reject the result. But they are not alone).

The Bulgarian-language media, hardly surprisingly, reflect events poorly. But Facebook, the crucible of these protests, does not. People eagerly post photos from the scene, even of their children waving flags and asking, “can we make the bad people go away and take their business outside of Bulgaria?”.

By rote, much of the Bulgarian-language media commits, in internet-speak, a Big Fail. They track the protesters: “they are at Orlov Most”; “the crowd at Parliament has thinned”.  Grey-headed so-called “sociologists” are invited into studios to explain it all, and to unveil what will happen next. They cannot, bar displaying their capacity for converting oxygen into carbon dioxide, a skill not uncommon among mammals but useless in the current context.

It is a protest against Peevski, against the new tripartite coalition – the socialists, the MRF, Ataka – it is a protest against the tawdry figures of the Bulgarian political establishment, it is a protest of despair, and hope.

“Mafia!” they scream, outside the unresponsive sheer cliffs that are the walls of the Council of Ministers building. “Resign!” they chant, perhaps, on these weekend days, with no one to hear them. Or no one willing to listen.

In television studios, dusted down for shine, Sergei Stanishev admits that the handling of the Delyan Peevski affair was a political mistake but sees no reason to resign. Nor does Plamen Oresharski, who in late May, just a few scant weeks ago, was placed in the prime minister’s chair in this administration brought about by a party that ran second in the election.

On the yellow cobblestones, a man is doing a roaring trade in Bulgarian flags and football rattles. Small children blow enthusiastically on plastic whistles, the signal emanating from these thousands that they want the final whistle to be blown on this administration.

Yes, the youngsters with the black, heavy-metal t-shirts are there, as they were in the “anti-monopoly” protests of early 2013, the ones that on one dramatic night produced a single violent clash that prompted the then-prime minister to step down. But from them, there is no sign of aggression, no sign that among their number is concealed the agents provocateur of internet rumour.

The police are out in force, but hardly forceful. They are keeping a watching brief, inscrutable in their body armour, in the confines of their buses and Gendarmerie armoured cars.

The journalists are there too, also in force, including ones off-duty. This one is not, assessing the mood, listening to the chat, later reading the Facebook posts, manoeuvring in the crowd to find the best photographic angle, not jumping but also not Red, just the literary gentleman in the grandstand, observing events.

Online, people are exhorted not to respond to “provocations” but do not have to, because there seem to be none. Emotion, yes. A Facebook favourite is that of the TV7 vehicle strewn with toilet paper, symbolic of this public’s views of a media owned by Peevski’s mother.

Another Facebook favourite is a photograph of a neatly-used refuse bin, an image that is a reproach to the anarchy of earlier in 2013. “We are many, we are strong,” they chant, as did people in the closing months of the winter at the start of this. We are tidier too, more civilised, more determined. But perhaps that is reading too much into it.

Cynicism greets the Sunday announcement by Oresharski that he is to meet representatives of the protesters the following day. Acerbically, a reaction on Facebook demands to know, who at this meeting speaks for me? Who dares to speak for me, without asking?

From the government point of view, as placed by them on the record, these protests are part of a plot by the former ruling party to make the country ungovernable, a heady haven of destabilisation.

Yet it is the same government that acknowledges that the handling of the Peevski affair was a mistake, and that society will now be consulted when a new head is found for the State Agency for National Security.

Amid these crowds, amid the humidity and high emotion, it is strange reflection, as the sunset rays arc on the latest day of protest, that it is precisely the sense of national security – or otherwise – that has brought these thousands here.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

Speaking at a massive campaign-style rally Sunday, Erdogan said two weeks of street protests had been manipulated by “terrorists.” He dismissed suggestions he was behaving like a dictator, as many protesters have alleged.

The prime minister also railed against foreign media coverage of the unrest amid criticism over his government’s handling of the protests that has seen his international image severely damaged.

A statement by the local office of the Interior Ministry said that police had received a report of the incident in the early hours of June 16.

The British tourist, who arrived in Bulgaria on June 10, had returned to his hotel by taxi and had gone to his room to fetch cash to pay the fare.

When the man did not return, the taxi driver, accompanied by a member of the hotel staff, went to look for him. The door to the room was opened by the man’s girlfriend and it was then that it became clear that the man had fallen from the balcony, the statement said.

A post-mortem is to be conducted and an official investigation has been initiated.

There were a number of reports of such falls from hotel balconies at Sunny Beach and other resorts in 2012, with at least one fatality, and falls from balconies also were reported in previous years.

(Photo: Mariana Ivanova Ruseva)

In Sofia and other major cities and towns, Sunday evening saw crowds of several thousands gather again in the latest in a series of what began as protests against the naming of controversial MRF figure Peevski and now have transformed into demands for the government as a whole to step down.

Within the Bulgarian Socialist Party, a number of voices have emerged to call for the resignation of party leader Sergei Stanishev over what the Vitosha regional branch of the party in Sofia called the “politically inappropriate” handling of the Peevski affair.

Roumen Petkov, who after the May 12 elections already had said that Stanishev had demonstrated his mastery at losing elections, said on June 14, 15 and 16 that Stanishev should resign.

Petkov, the first of two interior ministers in Stanishev’s cabinet before having to step down amid a controversy and also a loyalist to Georgi Purvanov, failed 2012 challenger to the leadership, said that it had been a “serious blunder” to rush ahead with appointing Peevski without co-ordinating the move with Bulgaria’s foreign partners.

Georgi Kadiev, an MP and formerly repeatedly a failed socialist candidate for mayor of Sofia, said that the resignation of the current leadership of the BSP would avert a repeat of the Peevski case.

A few voices came to the defence publicly of Stanishev, who let it be known on June 15 that he did not intend resigning.

Socialist MP Atanas Merdzhanov said that now was not the time for the BSP leadership to resign, because there was too much to be done.

Stanishev loyalist Anton Koutev said that there were no grounds for Stanishev to step down, and implicitly blamed the mess on Plamen Oresharski. When the BSP formed a government in May, Oresharski was placed in the prime minister’s chair and it was he – by virtue of his office and the changed law – who tabled Peevski’s nomination in Parliament.

On June 16, the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria – one of the business bodies that recently was in dialogue with Oresharski about the new government’s plans for the country – said that it was calling a special meeting for June 19 to discuss the current crisis in Bulgaria and the confederation’s response.

Ataka leader Volen Siderov, whose vote provided the quorum on the day that Parliament was asked to vote the Oresharski administration into power, said that he would be requesting a meeting with Oresharski to demand that appointments from the MRF to positions of power be stopped.

The MRF, which holds the votes in Parliament that keep the government in power, has a few cabinet ministers, some regional governors and some deputy ministers; the appointment of a party spokesperson as deputy minister of culture has excited scornful comment on social networks by Bulgarians.

Oresharski said on June 16 that he had invited “representatives of the protesters” as well as the about 20 NGOs that signed a petition against Peevski’s appointment, to a meeting at his office the following day. The purpose was to “continue the constructive dialogue we began last week,” the statement quoted Oresharski as saying. At a meeting on June 14 between Oresharski and representatives of protesters, some walked out in protest against Peevski’s appointment.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

As Hungary is part of the Europe’s open-border Schengen zone, the right to reside conveys all the freedom of movement advantages of an EU passport. The offer comes with the promise of a six-month fast-track to permanent residency status, which can in turn lead to full citizenship.

The government is clearly hoping to attract a lot of interest from China, a country with which it has assiduously worked to increase diplomatic and trade links under a policy of “opening to the east”.

For the full story, please visit The Budapest Times

(Photo: Alex Bruda/sxc.hu)

From the crowd outside the Cabinet office building, the calls were a mixture of specific rejection of the current Bulgarian Socialist Party-Movement for Rights and Freedoms government, while others were a rejection of the political establishment as a whole. “Mafia!” was a particularly enthusiastic chant.

Organised on social network Facebook, the protest drew a range of people and had no particular political party’s identity. In sharp contrast to the protests of early 2013, mobilised around high electricity prices, the June 15 protest lacked the choreography and the orchestrated exhortations of those weeks – perhaps a sign of greater spontaneity.

A popular image was that likening Peevski to a pig. Another striking image was that of a hanging in effigy of an “octopus” straw man – a reference to ubiquitous behind-the-scenes influence of organised crime – with the words “do not anger the people” inscribed on the upper beam of the gallows.

(Photos: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)

The statement from the government media office said that the withdrawal of Peevski had been agreed on with the leaders of the BSP and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms “as a display of responsibility and maturity in the situation”, a statement made against a background of widespread indignation in protests in major cities against the Peevski appointment.

The statement quoted Oresharski as saying that he had received the assurance of heads of parties supporting the government in Parliament that they would support a government proposal to annul the election of Peevski.

“This opens an opportunity for me to suggest a new candidate after consultations,” Oresharski was quoted as saying in the statement.

Since the new government came into office on May 29, Oresharski has had the job of announcing various appointments, including the Cabinet and other top posts, these being the result of bargaining between the BSP and MRF. When the BSP got the chance to come into power, party leader Sergei Stanishev insisted that the government would be a “programme cabinet” made up of “experts”.

The raucous debacle around the election of Peevski, an MRF MP, former tripartite coalition deputy minister of disaster management and powerful media boss, not only led to condemnation domestically, a distancing by the President, hints of discomfort from Western diplomats and international coverage of the controversy, but also to open calls from some in the BSP for party leader Sergei Stanishev to step down.

A few BSP MPs have spoken publicly at their discontent at the election of Peevski. The party’s parliamentary caucus was warned that failure to back Peevski ultimately would bring down the government, which is held in place by the MRF.

Media reports said that a petition had been initiated for the Bulgarian Socialist Party’s highest body to meet to, in effect, throw Stanishev out of the leadership and elect a new party leader. Some were not prepared even to let that process play out. Former cabinet minister Roumen Petkov, long a critic of Stanishev and an ally of former BSP leader Georgi Purvanov, said on June 15 that it would be best for Stanishev to quit by the end of the day.

A second consecutive protest was arranged in Sofia and other cities, with a starting time of 6.30pm on Saturday. Reports said that some involved in the protest, which was organised on social network Facebook, had said that it would go ahead irrespective of whether Peevski’s tenure as head of SANS was brought to an end.

(Photo: https://www.facebook.com/events/475048025915600/)

Taksim Solidarity – representing the protesters – said Saturday they will not leave the park, despite demands by the government to get out, and a promise by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to let a court decide the fate of controversial plans to commercially develop the park.

Earlier Saturday, Turkish police detained dozens of protesters in the Turkish capital, Ankara, hours after the conciliatory move by Erdogan.

On Friday, the prime minister told protesters he would put redevelopment plans for the park on hold until a court rules on them, and hold a referendum if the court ruled in the government’s favor.

Despite his promise, hundreds of protesters flocked to the streets in Ankara to demonstrate against the ruling AK Party.  Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protest.

In a televised speech Friday, Erdogan said the protesters have remained in the park long enough and have delivered their message.  He said that message has been “received and evaluated.”

Last month, a peaceful sit-in to save Istanbul’s Gezi Park from commercial development erupted into nationwide anti-government protests that have continued for more than two weeks.

Demonstrators and police have clashed during the protests, leaving four people dead, about 5,000 injured and thousands of others arrested.

Protesters gathered in Gezi Park vowed to stay despite Erdogan’s “final warning” to the marchers late Thursday.  The prime minister gave those, he calls, “troublemakers” 24 hours to clear out of Istanbul’s Taksim Square.

In a letter sent to local media, Peevski stopped short of submitting his resignation, saying that he had not yet signed his contract, meaning that he had not taken office as the director of SANS.

Peevski, an MP for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and media boss, did not give a reason for his decision, but said he was the target of a smear campaign.

Speaking on behalf of the ruling coalition, made of MRF and the socialists, Peevski said: “We assumed the responsibility to govern in the name of public interest after four years of government by individuals with a criminal genesis from the underground. For them, power is a goal; out of power they feel not safe, fearing the inevitable revelations.”

“This is why they embarked on the path of destruction and have targeted me, because they know that I am a man who can oppose them effectively,” he said, sticking to the narrative pushed by other ruling coalition politicians on June 14, namely that the opposition to his appointment was orchestrated by political rivals GERB.

About 10 000 people protested in Sofia and several thousand in various other Bulgarian cities and towns on June 14, using social media to organise. Plans for follow-up protests on June 15 were also being made – the main Facebook event had more than 60 000 people confirm their participation.

Public indignation is based on objections to Peevski himself and the speed with which he was appointed – scarcely 15 minutes passed between the nomination and Peevski’s oath, with no debates on the parliamentary floor or public discussion of his nomination.

Parliament’s next scheduled sitting is on June 19. It was not immediately clear whether it will convene earlier than that date, nor whether it would consider revoking Peevski. Before the protests on June 14, MPs from the two parties in the ruling coalition said that they had no intention to do so, despite calls from President Rossen Plevneliev and 20 civil society NGOs, who asked for a new and transparent process.

(Peevski, in the middle of the top row, on an election poster for MRF for the May 2013 parliamentary elections. Photo: dps.bg) 

The rapid interval between the nomination and voting in office of Peevski as SANS chief by Bulgarian Socialist Party and MRF MPs unleashed outrage on social networks which quickly became the base for organising protests. Public indignation is based on objections to Peevski himself and, among other things, to what is seen as disproportionate power accorded to the MRF and other interests.

The June 14 protest in Sofia went on from about 6.30pm to 11pm, with people gathering to march between the Cabinet office, Parliament and the landmark Eagle Bridge in the Bulgarian capital.

Plans are for the June 15 protests to take place between 6pm and 8pm. (Even for those who no opinions on the issue, motorists should note that roads around Parliament and the Cabinet office are likely to be impassable to vehicle traffic.)

The Peevski appointment led to President Rossen Plevneliev calling on Parliament to withdraw and reconsider the decision, with the head of state announcing that the June 14 vote meant the end of the “credit of confidence” in the government that took office on May 29.

Twenty NGOs sent an appeal to Parliament to cancel the Peevski appointment and restart the process in accordance with proper parliamentary procedure.

Bulgarian media quoted Western diplomats as expressing misgivings about the naming of Peevski, a controversial figure, to the SANS post.

The US embassy effectively distanced itself from the appointment, while French ambassador Philippe Autié indicated, according to a report by Mediapool, that he had been taken aback by the way that the nomination had been handled in Parliament.

“There is no greater challenge for Bulgaria and its place in the European Union than to improve the rule of law and achievements in the fight against corruption and organised crime. This is in the interests of Bulgarian citizens, of the European partners of Bulgaria and European Union as a whole,” he was quoted as saying.

“Our bilateral co-operation against organized crime has to now seen real satisfaction for the French side. We hope to keep the good level of co-operation.”

Autié said that “the post of chairman of the National Security Agency requires that it be filled by highly competent individual, motivated by the national interest and concern for the overall security of Bulgaria and of the European partners.”

In responses on Twitter to journalists who asked him about the Peevski appointment, UK ambassador Jonathan Allen said, “Head of DANS incredibly sensitive position for Bg and international partners. Need someone of highest integrity, trust & confidence” and “The appointment has been rushed through with no hearings, debate or opportunity to find out about candidate. Why?”

The Peevski issue also received coverage by several international media, while local television stations periodically interrupted regular coverage on Friday evening for crossings to live broadcasts from the scene.

Online, a Facebook group against Peevski’s appointment rapidly attracted more than 58 000 followers.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party government has defended the appointment of Peevski as an “outside expert” while he told local media that he should be judged on his deeds in office.

(Photo: twitter.com/asengenov)

The choice of Peevski, which caused dissent even among the BSP parliamentary caucus, was approved in Parliament without debate and with a scant 15 minutes between nomination and election.

Photo: twitter.com/GerganaBoteva

In the short, gaffe-prone first few weeks of the new government, the Peevski takeover of the State Agency for National Security appeared initially to be most damaging of all to BSP leader Sergei Stanishev, whose backdown to the MRF in appointing the controversial MP led to media reports of leaks from socialist circles that Stanishev’s leadership of the party would face a revolt.

A revolt of a different kind was in evidence in the rain-drenched streets of the Bulgarian capital, as a protest mobilised in a few hours on social network Facebook resulted in thousands gathering outside the Cabinet office building, chanting “goodbye”, “resign”, “Red rubbish”, and “we do not want a government of the energy mafia”.

On Twitter, the most used hashtag related to the protest against Peevski’s appointment was #дансwithme.

Photo: twitter.com/asengenov

Boiko Borissov, leader of the former ruling party GERB, who led his caucus in a walkout over the Peevski election, earlier called on high-profile members of his party not to participate in the protests. At the same time, he pronounced the BSP as dead and said it was clear that the MRF had seized power in the country.

In a declaration sent to the Speaker of the National Assembly, socialist Mihail Mihov, by about 20 NGOs said that the naming of Peevski to the post would worsen the institutional crisis in Bulgaria and lead to the country’s international isolation.

The declaration called on the National Assembly to overthrow the election of the head of the State Agency for National Security, organise a fresh election “according to accepted parliamentary procedure”, while underlining that the Peevski election was “politically disastrous for the life and reputation of Bulgarian democracy today and in the future”.

Photo: twitter.com/asengenov

(Main photo: twitter.com/beboredtodeath)

Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev, who was due to attend as well, cancelled his participation in protest against Parliament’s election of Delyan Peevski as the new head of the State Agency for National Security earlier in the day (as reported by The Sofia Globe here).

On the Bulgarian side, the official delegation included Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, Parliament Speaker Mihail Mikov and Transport Minister Danail Papazov; the Romanian delegation was headed by prime minister Victor Ponta. The head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Neofit, led the ceremony to bless the bridge.

In remarks published in advance of the ceremony, Hahn described the new bridge as “a powerful symbol of EU regional policy connecting communities and creating vital business links.”

“I am confident that the collaboration between Romania and Bulgaria – which we have helped foster through the Danube Strategy and which has made this project possible, will create the incentive for more connections, and will benefit both countries hugely,” he said.

EU funding for the bridge and related infrastructure stood at 106 million euro, out of 282 million euro spent by the two countries.

Although the idea to build a second bridge over the Danube between Bulgaria and Romania dates back decades, neither country could afford to foot the bill as their economies dealt with the ramifications of transitioning from state control to free market principles during 1990s.

After the EU agreed to fund the project, construction began in 2007, but quickly ran behind schedule. The European Commission agreed to extend the deadline by one year so that the two countries would not lose the EU grants.

However, several hundred local residents gathered at the bridge hours before the opening to protest against the poor state of other roads in the Vidin district leading to the bridge, local news agency Focus reported. The constant repairs on E-79 motorway between Sofia and Vidin made it difficult for the bridge to be used to its full potential, according to the report.

Transport Minister Papazov, however, was confident in an interview with Bulgarian National Radio earlier on June 14. Papazov said that more than 415 000 vehicles were expected to use the bridge in the first 12 months of operation, with revenue from transit fees forecast at four million leva for 2013.

(Photo of Danube Bridge 2 in March 2013: ionutp)

Plevneliev was speaking in brief remarks broadcast live on television and radio, a few hours after the votes of Bulgarian Socialist Party and Movement for Rights and Freedoms MPs propelled Peevski into the top job at the agency, just 15 minutes after Peevski was nominated.

Soon after the election of Peevski, which records of electronic voting in Parliament was not supported by all BSP MPs when some declined to register a vote, Plevneliev cancelled his attendance at the June 14 opening ceremony for Danube Bridge 2 and announced he was calling a meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) for June 20 at 9am.

Reform of the security sector would be the sole item on the agenda of this meeting, the President’s office said. The CCNS is convened by the President and attended by the head of government, ministers with security and other strategic portfolios, leaders of parties represented in Parliament and security and intelligence chiefs, including the head of SANS.

Plevneliev, who just two days ago effectively turned down a request by former ruling party GERB to veto amendments to the SANS Act that, among other things, moved the power of appointment from his office to Parliament, said in the June 14 afternoon statement that when he had decided not to veto the bill, he had not known who would take over the post of chief of SANS.

The choice of Peevski meant that his credit of confidence in the government, which customarily would last 100 days, was now “exhausted”. The government, which has Plamen Oresharski occupying the Prime Minister’s chair, was voted into office by the BSP and MRF MPs on May 29.

“The process by which the head of the State Agency for National Security was elected has nothing to do with the commitment made to the Bulgarian people and to me personally about transparency,” Plevneliev said.

Plevneliev said that he had not objected to the concept of the head of SANS being elected by Parliament and had expected that the change would mean greater publicity for a candidate SANS chief’s vision for the development of the security sector, and that the voices of opposition parties and civil society would be heard.

In an apparent reference to the controversies about Peevski, Plevneliev said that the person appointed to such an important post should be of high reputation and someone in whom the public could have trust.

He specifically criticised the fact that the process had taken just 15 minutes, with no debate. Plevneliev said that he could not agree that the process should be handled this way.

“This is a decision with lasting negative consequences for Bulgaria,” Plevneliev said.

Oresharski said that he would be proposing changes to the structure and assignment of oversight functions in the Cabinet, also a reverse of the Bulgarian Socialist Party government position that restructuring of the executive would wait several months because there was urgent work to be done.

At the time the Cabinet was named, only one deputy prime minister was appointed, in a portfolio combined with justice and oversight of the use of EU funds, although at the time the intention was to have a second, overseeing the economic portfolio ministries.

This latter appointment has not been made but whenever it happens, it would mean a total of three prime ministers.

Under the GERB government headed by Boiko Borissov from 2008 to March 2013, there were two deputy prime ministers, one the interior minister and the other the finance minister.

Oresharski said that “unfortunately, in recent years, the Interior Ministry has been highly partisan. The ministry should be a pillar of the state, a defender of the interests of Bulgarian citizens, not in the service of one or another party”.

Yovchev was chief of staff for President Rossen Plevneliev from January 2012 to April 2013.

Yovchev held senior posts in the National Security Service from 1993, later joining the State Agency for National Security when it was established under Bulgaria’s 2005-2009 socialist-led government. He left the agency in 2008 to run a security industry business, but from August 2009 to February 2011, returned to the agency as its head, resigning after then-prime minister Borissov publicly criticised the agency’s performance.

Accepting his resignation at the time, Borissov described Yovchev as “a good expert but not a good boss”. Yovchev’s resignation at the time was publicly linked to leaks of conversations that had been the subject of electronic eavesdropping by the agency. One of these conversations, the authenticity of which was never confirmed, purportedly involved Borissov asking the head of the customs agency to call off an investigation into the Ledenika brewery, at the time owned by the now-deceased Mihail “Misho The Beer” Mihov.

Soon after, Yovchev was appointed as national security adviser to Borissov, before his January 2012 appointment as Plevneliev’s chief of staff.

Bulgarian-language website Mediapool quoted sources as saying that with the assignment of deputy prime minister status to Yovchev, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms had gained control of Bulgaria’s entire security sector.

MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan reportedly had insisted on the appointment of Yovchev.

Oresharski’s statement about the cabinet restructuring came soon after the controversial election by BSP and MRF MPs of Delyan Peevski as the new head of the State Agency for National Security.

Peevski’s nomination was put to Parliament on June 14 by Plamen Oresharski, prime minister in the Bulgarian Socialist Party government, and approved 15 minutes later with the votes of MPs from the BSP and MRF.

BSP MP Georgi Kadiev sent an open letter to the media underlining that he did not support the candidacy of Peevski.

At an early-morning meeting of the BSP parliamentary caucus, when the nomination of Peevski was announced, Kadiev voted against it and when the nomination was put to Parliament, he had not voted, he said.

Kadiev, whose career mainly has been in municipal politics in Sofia, including as a failed mayoral candidate, said that he sought election to Parliament to “eradicate” Boiko Borissov’s party GERB, but also to “restore professionalism and integrity”.

The June 14 endorsement of Peevski went beyond any compromise that he could accept, he said. Kadiev said that he was prepared to leave Parliament “tomorrow” but did not believe that this would help anything.

According to a report by television station bTV, Oresharski told BSP MPs that he would resign if the nomination of Peevski was not accepted.

The BSP MPs were summoned to the morning meeting of the party’s parliamentary group by an SMS which said that attendance was compulsory, according to the report.

A resignation by Oresharski would be certain to precipitate new elections. The BSP currently is in government in spite of having run second in the May elections, and had the chance to form a government after GERB found itself in a National Assembly where it had no potential allies.

It is against this background that, once it was clear that there were BSP MPs unhappy at the choice of Peevski, the reported threat by Oresharski to quit was issued.

Oresharski, speaking to reporters after the election of Peevski, said briefly that the choice was the right one.

GERB leader Boiko Borissov told journalists that the Peevski appointment was the official signal that the Bulgarian Socialist Party had died.

“I am so shocked by what I have just heard that I cannot even believe it is happening,” Borissov said.

It was all over for the BSP, he said. “As of today, there is only one party ruling in Bulgaria and it is the MRF. The BSP no longer exists,” Borissov said.

Nagyova has been charged with abuse of power, the report said, quoting high state attorney Ivo Istvan.

Ondrej Palenik, the former head of the military counter-intelligence service, and his successor at the service, Milan Kovanda, faced similar charges. The duo, as well as other counter-intelligence officials, are alleged to have had Necas’s wife shadowed on Nagyova’s orders, Palenik’s lawyer was quoted as saying.

Necas is separated from his wife and recently said that he planned to divorce her, while local tabloids have speculated about Necas’s relationship with Nagyova, CTK said.

The police were still investigating whether Necas knew about Nagyova’s alleged actions, the agency reported.

Separately, two former MPs for Necas’s Civic Democrats party were charged with bribery and money laundering, Radio Prague reported. Nagyova was also linked to the corruption charges against the two former MPs, the report said.

In an address to parliament on June 14, Necas said that the police raids and the arrests of high-profile officials were a blow to the country’s image, but said that he had did not plan to step down as prime minister.

The largest opposition party, the Social Democrats, said that they would table a motion of no confidence if Necas refused to resign, with the two other opposition parties saying that they would back such a motion.

Necas’s coalition partners, TOP 09, have thus far remained reserved in their response, saying that they would await more information from prosecutors and the police.

Speaking late on June 13, TOP 09 leader Karel Schwarzenberg said that the country was at a cross-roads, Radio Prague reported. If the police operation is seen to be fully justified it would re-enforce democracy in the country, but should the police and state attorney’s office fail to provide convincing evidence it would severely undermine trust in the country’s institutions, he said.

(Photo of Czech prime minister Petr Nečas by European Council via flickr.com)