Sofia prosecutors: Dismissal of Interior Ministry chief Kostov was lawful, not political
Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office said on March 9 that the February dismissal of Georgi Kostov as chief secretary of the Interior Ministry had been lawful, not political.
Responding to a complaint by Kostov about his firing, the Prosecutor’s Office said that no crime had been committed in connection with his dismissal by caretaker Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov and caretaker Interior Minister Plamen Uzunov.
President Roumen Radev signed the decree dismissing Kostov – who had been in office since March 2015, appointed by then-President Rossen Plevneliev on the recommendation of the Borissov cabinet – on February 11, the same day it was recommended by the Gerdzhikov cabinet.
According to the caretaker government, Kostov was fired over alleged involvement in exerting political pressure on senior Interior Ministry officials in 2015 and 2016. Kostov denies these allegations.
Prosecutors said that the dismissal had been lawful, “in the form required by law, without discussing whether this decision was correct or not”.
(Archive photo of Kostov: Interior Ministry)
/Politics
