Bulgaria Interior Minister Will Not Accept Staff Salary Cuts

Bulgaria's Interior Minister has stated that his staff will not accept any cuts in salary, and that he will attend the demonstration planned for Saturday, a move seen by trade unions as 'politicising' the event. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has stated that his ministry employees will not accept any cut in wages.

"Tomorrow, I shall attend the protest as the employer of all staff at the Interior Ministry," he pledged on Friday. "There is no way to solve the claims and issues they have, if we differentiate between each other."

"Following the same logic, the professional management may refuse to talk with the protesters," he added in relation to the forthcoming protest by the police.

Tsvetanov said that the allegations of police trade union leaders of the police union that something may happen as the policemen are armed, should not be taken seriously.

"We will not allow a reduction in wages in the system of law enforcement, whatever measures are taken. I think certain people are seeking to make the situation more tense, rather than to seek pragmatic solutions on the issue," said Tsvetanov.

"The inability to secure funds now is due to what happened in the past. There are many complex issues that have been inherited, that need to be solved in a short period of time. It is very easy to go into deficit by throwing money around and meeting the claims of all professional organizations," Tsvetanov pointed out

The Minister rejected the option of closing the so-called "Supervision of Minors" department, saying that this issue had not been discussed.

"For me, it is important to hold on to employees who have professional skills," he said in response to a question as to whether he expected a wave of resignations after reducing the salaries of policemen. Tsvetanov pointed out that there is already a legal option to establish municipal police, but that financial backing by local authorities needed to be available.

The Minister has also expressed his surprise that none of the union leaders had committed to any support in the case of Filip Filev, the employee of the Interior Ministry who fell sick in India with a severe virus infection, but that instead it was the Prime Minister who had pledged to send a government plane to bring the patient back to Bulgaria.

Earlier on Friday, Galentin Grozev, Deputy Chairman of the trade union organization for employees of the Interior Ministry, said that there was a dialogue between the union and the Ministry of Interior, but that it was formal.

"This dialogue is formal, because we still are seen as a body subordinate to and dependent on the Interior Ministry," he stated.

He explained that there was an urgent need for immediate updating of the legal framework and participation of trade unions in drafting the new law on the Ministry, as well as the launching of administrative and structural reforms that would relieve the Ministry of a huge financial burden and responsibility.

Grozev also stated that there was no officially stated expression of desire on the part of the Interior Minister to attend Saturday's protest.

"We have no right to political statements, nor to engage in political activities. The presence of one politician, chairman or deputy chairman or other person who has any political function will politicize the protest, in our view, so we will try not to give a platform for political speeches," he observed.

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