Ex Bulgarian Top Cop Lashes Out against 'Armed' Nationalist

Former Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov has reacted strongly to reports that nationalist Ataka leader Volen Siderov has entered Parliament with a hand gun on him.

"It is inadmissible for an MP to enter the house with a weapon or a police bat," said Tsvetanov for the Focus Radio.

Friday pictures alleging to show Siderov with a hand gun on his waist surfaced on social networks, only to be denied at a special Ataka press event.

However, Siderov was confirmed to be walking around with a police bat, after tensions between his supporters and anti-cabinet protesters flared the previous week.

In the interview, Tsvetanov, vice-chair of largest parliamentary party GERB, also criticized Siderov and Ataka for their perceived mute support of the cabinet of PM Plamen Oresharski, elected by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

The two cabinet parties together have exactly half of Bulgaria's 240 MPs, and have to rely on Ataka for achieving quorum in Parliament, given that GERB has chosen to boycott the work of the house.

"At in the present highly tense political situation, the choice best for Bulgaria would be a resignation of the cabinet," said Tsvetanov.

He also called for a revision of Bulgaria's Election Code and the calling of new snap elections, months after Bulgarians went to the polls in May, following the February resignation of the GERB cabinet led by Boyko Borisov.

With his statement, Tsvetanov in effect joined the calls of anti-cabinet protesters, who since June 14 have taken to the streets of Bulgarian capital Sofia in thousands.

Protesters have however made it explicit that their rallies are against all leading parties in Bulgaria's current political elite.