No Further Layoffs Planned in Interior Ministry System
Interior Minister Vesselin Vouchkov said on Monday that no further layoffs are planned in the Interior Ministry system. Speaking to journalists after a Police
Officer of the Year award ceremony, Vouchkov said that a week from now he will unveil his plan for an administrative reform in his department, but with a total staff of 47,000, the Interior Ministry services cannot afford to reduce their personnel any further. "There will be no more layoffs, but the administration
is too big and we need to make internal adjustments," he said.
He estimated that 935 million leva will be enough to pay the wages to a staff of 47,000 for a year, so this will be the target amount in 2015.
Bulgaria is technically ready to join the Schengen border-free area, and even though the country is experiencing increased refugee pressure, it is coping better than some other countries which already belong to the Schengen area, Vouchkov said. Bulgaria's Schengen entry is a purely political issue, and the
country continues its efforts to convince all member states to support it, he said.