2024-08-30 19:25:28
There will also be a change of the head of the gendarmerie
The Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Dimitar Kangaldzhiev, cannot be replaced by Yavor Serafimov. The reason is that Kangaldzhiev, who holds the position of deputy but performs the functions of chief secretary after the resignation of Zhivko Kotsev in April, has taken sick leave.
This became clear from a statement by Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov on Friday.
On Thursday evening, it became known that the director of GDBOP Yavor Serafimov will be appointed to the post of deputy general secretary. The Council of Ministers announced the casting. Kangaldzhiev’s replacement was requested by Ilkov, but agreed with Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev. Since Kangaljiev has never been the incumbent, the interior minister can replace him himself. Only the chief secretary is appointed on the proposal of the government and by decree of the president. For all other changes in the professional staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, only the signature of the Minister of the Interior is sufficient.
The posts are also parted with the deputy. Interior Ministers Stoyan Temelakiev and Hristo Stefanov. They were Kalin Stoyanov’s deputies. Tony Todorov, who was also in his team, remains for now. The prime minister has appointed Lyubomir Yosifov in place of the two replaced. He is a long-term employee of the Ministry of the Interior and has held various management positions in the department. He was also an expert on prisons and worked in the private sector. He is known in professional circles as the head of the Association of Chiefs of Police. It was founded in 2006.
“We have started a procedure to change the position of chief secretary. The procedure is not complete. Mr. Kangaljiev has not been replaced, he is still the acting Deputy General Secretary. He has been in hospital since Thursday. It turned out that he has health problems and I cannot say when he will appear at work in order to continue this procedure that we have started”, Minister Ilkov explained. And he added that he personally decided on Yavor Serafimov to succeed him. It is a curious fact that Serafimov and Kangaldzhiev were Kalin Stoyanov’s deputies while he was the head of GDBOP from 2021 to 2023.
Since Kangaljiev cannot be replaced while on sick leave, the new head of the national police, Miroslav Rashkov, fills this position as well. He has been a director only since Tuesday, after inheriting the chair from the new minister Ilkov.
The interior minister also said that the director of the gendarmerie, Dimitar Andonov, will most likely be replaced. “The vision, in my opinion, is not the one that this responsible office should show. I am determined and will make this change,” said Ilkov. And he added that there were several options for who would fill the position, but did not mention names. He also said that there may be changes in the chiefs of the police by districts, but he assured that he would not rotate them.
