Police officers ‘buried’ the Ministry of Interior

Sofia. - Hundreds of police officers and their relatives have gathered in a park close to the embassy of the Czech Republic in Sofia.
Some of them were waving Bulgarian flags. There were many women and children.
A scene has been fixed in the park to host a concern.
Police officers staged a protest on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. outside the embassy of the Czech Republic.
Ivan Pavlov, police officer with District Police Directorate – Lovech and member of the new police trade union, said that not a single demand announced a month ago at a meeting with Interior Ministry leadership had been fulfilled and that’s why police officers would protest outside the embassy of the Czech Republic, holder of the EU Presidency.
The police officers insist on higher payment, better equipment and social status.
After the concert a declaration should be submitted in the embassy of the Czech Republic, holder of the EU rotating Presidency. The police officers want the document to reach the Union leaders, said Ivan Savov.
Later a rally was held along major streets in downtown Sofia.
Police officers will not give their demands up; they will stand up for them till the end, chairman of the new police trade union Ivan Pavlov told journalists, cited by Focus News Agency.
“We expect that finally someone will fulfill our six demands. We submitted them in the Ministry of Interior. We will insist on their fulfillment,” he added.
Asked whether political forces were behind Sunday’s protest of police officers, he asked rhetorically: “Do you see representatives of political parties here? I do not.”
Some 5,000 police officers have gathered in a park close to the embassy of the Czech Republic in Sofia.
On behalf of the police officers Dimitar Manolov, vice president of Confederation of Labor Podkrepa, submitted their declaration in the Czech embassy. The embassy official said he would hand the document to its addressees. The consul of the Czech Republic said ambassador Martin Klepetko was not able to meet with the police officers due to appointments. The declaration expresses discontent about the talks between Interior Ministry and contact group, which proved futile. The major demands of the police officers are: amendments to Interior Ministry Act concerning the trade union activity, amendments to the Penal Code that provide for tougher punishments for people who attack police officers, a 50% pay rise backdated to January 1st 2009, better equipment and payment for overtime and night work.
Police officers had already staged a series of similar sit-ins outside the interior ministry building here in recent months, demanding a salary increase, better working conditions and legislative reforms.
The interior ministry offered them a 5-percent rise in pay this past week, with minister Mihail Mikov saying the officers' demands for a 50-percent rise sounded "insolent" at a time of global crisis.
Mikov also told the national radio on Sunday that higher pay would come only with better results on the ground and there would also be personnel cuts.
Public discontent has mounted over the past months in Bulgaria, fed by fears of rising unemployment and deepening poverty amidst the global financial and economic crisis.


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