The role of the Ministry of Interior is key during elections. These days, even before the election campaign has started, the main role of the operative-investigative work of the teams is to counteract the buying of votes. This was stated by the former Minister of the Interior, Veselin Vuchkov, in the program “The Live Day” on Nova News.
„I am among the people who believe that the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not play a role in the phenomenon of “buying votes”. It can be countered, but very difficult. To do that, you need to find a person who is willing to testify in front of a judge about these criminal practices,” he explained.
The former interior minister explained why it happens like this. “The vast majority of most acts against the political rights of citizens are not classified as serious crimes. The use of the SRS would not be appropriate, as it can be assumed that it is a direct interference in the elections and a violation of the political rights of citizens, Vuchkov stressed.
„A drastic salary increase for staff in the Ministry of the Interior is coming after the New Year. It is about BGN 1.2 billion, and the money is still not there. Thus, the budget of the Ministry of the Interior will exceed BGN 4 billion. This is according to internal reports of the Ministry of the Interior. It is good that there will be a 30% increase in salaries in the Ministry of the Interior, but it is also important to demand more drastic reforms in the Ministry of the Interior. The situation in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in recent years is: “Leave any reform here”, according to the former interior minister.
Vuchkov said that he expects an increase in the migrant flow after the tightening of border control at the Schengen borders. He was adamant that it is time for our country to become a full member of the free space for movement and pointed out that in order to achieve this we need a stable government.