The Vice-Premier and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov presented before the parliamentary Internal Security and Public Order Committee the results of the ongoing in the last 3 years reform in the Interior Ministry. The forum has been opened by the parliament’s Vice-President and Chairman of the Internal Security and Public Order Committee Anastas Anastasov.

Anastasov noticed that the interaction between the parliamentary committee and the Ministry has been excellent. He pointed out that in the last three years the Ministry had initiated 25 legislative amendments approved by the committee and passed by the parliament. The direction of the legislative activity was aimed at the harmonization of the Bulgarian legislation with the legislation of the European Union and the country had achieved the criteria for accession to the Schengen space. He noted that the introduced legislative amendments have helped the implementation of the structural reforms in the sector - the functions and prerogatives of the State Agency for National Security have been strictly determined to not allow contradictions and repetitions with those of the Ministry of the Interior. Anastasov underscored that the legislative changes have supplied the Ministry with adequate instruments for the successful implementation of its tasks.

The Ministry of the Interior had ceased the activity of more than 660 organized criminal groups from 2009 to the present, minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov pointed out. According to him during the same time the police had undertaken more than 300 big operations. Among them he defined as most successful those named “Octopus” and “The Impudent”. The minister gave account of the number of returned for additional investigation pretrial proceedings, saying the number has decreased by 7127 in 2011 in comparison with the previous 2010. He explained the phenomena with the legal amendments allowing ordinary policemen to conduct some activities of the pretrial investigations. Among the positive developments in his Ministry Tsvetanov pointed to the number of the personnel, which is now available to the public, the introduction of the “absolute necessity” for policemen to use arms, as well as the introduction of parliamentary oversight over the special investigative means employed in the operations of the ministry.
Minister Tsvetanov’s report was delivered in the presence of all the members of the political and professional leadership of the Ministry.