Bulgaria’s April elections: 200 000 euro for vote-buying found in Varna, four arrested
Close to 200 000 euro distributed in envelopes along with lists containing personal data of voters were found during searches of four addresses in Bulgaria’s coastal city of Varna in a police operation against an organised crime group involved in vote-buying, Interior Ministry chief secretary Georgi Kandev said on April 17.
Kandev’s post on Facebook comes two days before Bulgaria holds early parliamentary elections on April 19.
Four people were arrested.
Kandev said that the organised crime group included a man who is a municipal councillor from Provadia.
On April 14, Kandev said that by that stage, a million euro had been seized in operations against vote-buying.
On April 15, in a post on Facebook, he said that close to 9000 euro had been confiscated in operations against vote-buying in Stara Zagora and Kyustendil. Four people were arrested.
Also on April 15, Deputy Interior Minister Ivan Anchev said that 5000 euro and 6000 pounds sterling had been confiscated in an operation against vote-buying.
On April 16, Kandev said that during a routine check in Veliko Turnovo, a candidate MP driving a car had been stopped and had been found to be in possession of a sum of money made up of 10- and 20-euro banknotes, along with lists of names.
The candidate MP was accompanied by a man who had numerous convictions for theft. The candidate was not arrested because he has immunity from prosecution, Kandev said.
The Interior Ministry said on April 17 that at national level, the number of reports from the public about breaches of electoral law was 2066, compared with 612 in October 2024.
The ministry said that by 9am on April 17, a total of 538 criminal proceedings had been initiated, compared with 120 at this point before the elections in 2024, and there were 534 fast-track and pre-trial proceedings, compared with 108 in the previous elections.
A total of 360 people had been arrested, compared with 70 in 2024.
Caretaker Labour and Social Policy Minister Hassan Ademov, speaking on April 17, said that the ministry had received 30 reports about the use of the social system for election purposes.
Admemov said that six of the reports had been forwarded to the Interior Ministry, two to the Prosecutor’s Office, and the remainder were being investigated by the ministry’s inspectorate.
Caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev said on April 17: “We have prepared some election surprises for people who have not yet heeded our calls and advice not to violate the law, not to commit crimes related to the election process”.
Speaking to reporters, Dechev said that, for understandable reasons, he would not disclose what surprises the ministry had planned.
(Photo via Kandev’s Facebook page)
