„Yes, I had a meeting with Mr. Andrey Gyurov. We had a relatively long conversation, during which I delicately turned down the offer to take on a ministerial position in this caretaker government.“ This was said in the program „120 Minutes“ on BTV by the former Minister of Interior and former GERB MP, Prof. Vesselin Vuchkov.
As the main reason for the refusal, he indicated his distance from active politics over the past nearly 10 years.
The appointment and subsequent resignation of Stoil Tsitselkov as Deputy Prime Minister for Fair Elections Vuchkov described as a „bad start“ for the caretaker government.
According to him, the role of a special deputy prime minister for elections is controversial.
„I am not sure whether it is necessary in the Bulgarian Council of Ministers to have a special deputy prime minister on the issue of holding relatively decent, i.e. fair elections“, commented Vuchkov.
He stressed that holding fair elections is the responsibility of the entire cabinet: „Ultimately, this is a professional, political, public activity of every minister, especially in a caretaker government.“
Vuchkov also commented on a possible replacement of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, emphasizing that every minister has the right to select his team.
„The Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has not appeared in front of the media even once. In my opinion, he can be blamed for a really long absence, and an unexcused absence at that," said the former Interior Minister about Miroslav Rashkov, who has been in the post of Secretary General since August 28, 2025.
Regarding the tragic case of "Petrohan-Okolchitsa", Vuchkov criticized the delayed reaction of the institutions. According to him, the first press conference has been postponed for too long.
He also expressed concern about the fact that for years various institutions have been working on signals about the group around Ivaylo Kalushev, but without visible results.
“All this has sunk into the coldness of bureaucratic indifference“, the former interior minister believes.
Vuchkov also raised the issue of the activities of structures presenting themselves with distinctive signs that create the impression of state legitimacy: “This cannot be an activity transferred to a private structure. This is a very important issue.“