Newly appointed Interior Minister promises fair elections

The new caretaker Interior Minister, Atanas Ilkov, has promised that there will be no turmoil in the Interior Ministry. If there are any changes, they will be cosmetic, he said as he took over the ministry from caretaker minister Kalin Stoyanov.

Ilkov made it clear that under no circumstances would he succumb to the influence of certain political parties and carry out changes of regional directors of the Interior Ministry. According to him, the two main tasks of the ministry under his leadership will be to ensure public order before, during and after the elections, and to effectively prevent and combat electoral crimes.

Last week, the nomination of incumbent Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov by the previous candidate for prime minister, Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, led to President Rumen Radev's refusal to sign a decree on her cabinet, as he doubted that Minister Stoyanov would be able to guarantee the holding of fair elections. Stoyanov's only defender turned out to be DPS co-leader Delyan Peevski.