Veselin Vuchkov

Interior Minister Veselin Vuchkov is to make his proposals next week, regardless of Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov's assurances that top-level reshuffles are not needed in police and security.

Ivaylo Spiridonov has been appointed Director of the Chief Directorate "Combating Organized Crime" (GDBOP) of the Interior Ministry.

Interior Minister Veselin Vuchkov announced Spiridonov's appointment on Tuesday in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, adding that his previous post had been Deputy Director of the Chief Directorate "Criminal Police" of the Interior Ministry.

In an article published on Sunday, The Wall Street Journal pointed to Bulgaria as being one of the weak spots through which Jihadists from Europe pass on their way to join IS in Syria and Iraq.

Apart from the more loosely guarded border between Bulgaria and Turkey, Jihadists also often choose the daily ferries between Turkey and Northern Cyprus.

Tsvetlin Yovchev, Interior Minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, dismissed the accusations that the 2014 anti-government protests in Bulgaria were accompanied by wiretapping.

These accusations were hurled by the chairperson of the parliamentary Internal Security and Public Order Committee Atanas Atanasov last week.

Bulgarian firefighters are to protest on Saturday due to planned layoffs and poor working conditions.

They will gather in Sofia at midday in the garden of the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church, which is near the building of the Interior Ministry, daily Dnevnik reports.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Veselin Vuchkov announced on Monday that he plans to propose to the government a new candidate for the position of Chief Secretary.

Vuchkov said that the proposal will be submitted once the parliament approves the amendments to the Interior Ministry Act, which is expected to happen until the end of next week.

The Bulgarian troops, who are to be deployed in order to aid the Interior Ministry in guarding the border with Turkey against the influx of illegal immigrants, will not bear arms.

This means that they will not be able to arrest people who cross the border illegally, daily Sega reports.

As many as 180 troops are to be deployed at the Bulgaria-Turkey border, Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said.

The soldiers will be in charge of providing logistic support to Border Police, the Interior Ministry subdivision in charge of safeguarding border security.

Bulgaria will continue building the fence along its border witn Turkey meant to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, the government has decided.

The Interior Ministry should draft an engineering project and set a timeline for its implementation by 30 January, according to an action plan approved by the cabinet on Wednesday.

Petko Sertov, the former head of Bulgaria's security service DANS, has crossed into Bulgaria from the Greek border after having disappeared mysteriously last year, Interior Minister Veselin Vuchkov has confirmed.

Sertov arrived in Bulgaria at about 01:30 EET on Monday (23:30 GMT Sunday).