Caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev Thursday said that public trust in the Ministry’s new leadership has increased. He pointed to what he described as a several-fold increase in alerts about election-related crimes compared to the October 2024 parliamentary elections. Dechev noted that the Ministry was working to dismantle vote-buying schemes and was doing so without applying double standards.
Interior Ministry Secretary General Georgi Kandev said that urgent searches of private properties, vehicles, and commercial premises had been carried out during a police operation targeting vote buying in the town of Varbitsa, Shumen Region. Authorities seized identity documents, lists of names, and materials related to signature collection for a political party’s participation in the April 19 parliamentary elections, along with EUR 76,280 in cash. Later in the day, the Shumen police press centre added that six individuals had been detained, and witnesses had been questioned.
Also on Thursday, police seized more than EUR 20,000 in cash and campaign materials during an operation targeting a retail business, a grocery store, and an adjoining family hotel in the Black Sea town of Pomorie. The premises were operated by a suspect accused of offering financial incentives to residents to influence them to vote for a specific candidate or political party. The individual was detained for up to 24 hours.
In Pleven Region, police confiscated firearms, cash, and lists of names.
A gendarmerie-backed operation is underway in Lovech Region. Inspections are being conducted at pawnshops, fast-loan offices, and retail outlets. Checkpoints have also been set up at key locations, where officers are inspecting individuals and vehicles.
In Haskovo Region, police detained three people over the past 24 hours on suspicion of vote buying. A 47-year-old woman, the owner of a commercial establishment in Dimitrovgrad, was arrested after allegedly urging customers to vote for a specific political party. A notebook containing names and corresponding sums of money was seized from the premises. Two more individuals—a 35-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman—were detained in Harmanli for similar offences.
Similar operations were carried out in Plovdiv and Smolyan.
/RY/