Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Resignations demanded after the football protests in Sofia

PM Nikolay Denkov
Photo: BGNES

Bulgaria's Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Stoyan Temelakiev has been fired, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov announced earlier today. "Instead of a football celebration, we observed ugly scenes of violence. Mainly because of the management of the Bulgarian Football Union which has been led to decline. There are mistakes on the part of the Ministry of the Interior," Denkov said at a press briefing.


The Prime Minister announced that he would discuss the resignation of Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov with Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel, because he made an inadequate assessment of the situation. Stoyanov's resignation was also requested by the co-chairman of the ruling coalition "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (PP-DB) Kiril Petkov. 

The chairman of the MRF parliamentary group Delyan Peevski objected and announced that the interior minister was pressured during the local elections to work in favour of the PP-DB. 

GERB leader Boyko Borisov demanded the resignations of sports minister Dimitar Iliev and the chairman of the Bulgarian Football Union Borislav Mihailov. Acting chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov ordered the prosecutor's office to conduct an inspection of the management of the Bulgarian Football Union because of media publications about financial crimes, including the "black lottery", reports BTA.

At the end of his press conference and the blocked work of the parliament, the prime minister said: "I will not give in to pressure. GERB and MRF, who are always together lately, as we see, have every right to overthrow the government. Let them do it"!

At a briefing, Minister of the Interior Kalin Stoyanov stated that the director of the Sofia metropolitan directorate of the interior had initiated an internal probe as a matter of urgency, to establish whether any police officers overstepped their powers during last night’s protest by football fans in Sofia. In his words, the adequate reaction by the police prevented more serious damage, or even casualties. 




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Greece reinforces police at Promakhon checkpoint on border with Bulgaria to speed up border crossing

Authorities in Greece will deploy more police officers at the Promakhon checkpoint on the border with Bulgaria to speed up the processing of documents for people and vehicles crossing the border, reports BNR's correspondent in Greece, Katya Peeva...

published on 11/22/24 6:09 PM
Hungarian Minister of Interior Sandor Pinter

Romania and Bulgaria have a chance to join Schengen by land as of January 2025

Romania and Bulgaria have a chance to join the Schengen area by land as  of January 2025 , Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter said after an informal meeting in Budapest of the interior ministers of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Austria ...

published on 11/22/24 4:37 PM

Sofia Christmas festival will kick off tonight in front of National Palace of Culture

The Sofia Christmas Festival will open tonight in the park in front of the National Palace of Culture in the heart of Sofia . The third edition of the festival starts at 6.30 pm with a rich program and attractions - а Ferris wheel, a carousel and..

published on 11/22/24 4:24 PM