Head of Bulgaria's Security Agency DANS also Steps Down

Vladimir Pisanchev. Photo by BGNES

Vladimir Pisanchev, who heads the Bulgarian counter-intelligence body DANS, has tabled his resignation.

This comes hours after on the Chief Secretary of Bulgaria's Interior Ministry, Svetlozar Lazarov, stepped down and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said he would accept the move.

Officials have neither confirmed nor denied the information about Pisanchev, but Borisov told reporters on Friday he was awaiting the security chief at his cabinet later during the day.

On Thursday, a day after ex-Interior Minister Vuchkov also stepped down over the PM and his other ministers' reluctance to replace both Lazarov and Pisanchev, Borisov demanded that the two quit.

Pisanchev took up office in the summer of 2013 to replace Delyan Peevski, a lawmaker whose appointment to the post sparked anti-government protests across Bulgaria. He was to head the State Agency for National Security (DANS) for a five-year term.

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