Former Bulgarian Interior Minister from the previous, Socialist-le cabinet, Rumen Petkov, has given up his parliamentary immunity so that he could be investigated.

“I will do this so that the whole truth could be revealed,” Petkov said Wednesday in an interview for the Bulgarian private TV channel bTV, regarding comments in the media that his US visa has been revoked.

According to the Bulgarian daily “24 Chassa” (24 Hours), the former interior minister has been told by the US Embassy in Bulgaria that he could no longer enter the United States. However, the US Ambassador to Bulgaria, James Warlick, has refused to comment on the topic.

The reason for the withdrawal of the visa has not been officially announced. Diplomatic sources have unofficially stated that the reason was the “procedures that had started in Bulgaria.”

Petkov has stated that this was done in order to distract the attention from the real problems in the country. He has accused Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, and the Customs Agency Director, Vanyo Tanov, of organizing an attack against him.

In his words, it was a disgrace for a minister to not be able to prove the origin of his money and his property. His statement was in regards to the recent discussions about Tsvetanov’s properties.

On Tuesday, the leader of the Bulgarian nationalist party Ataka, Volen Siderov, sent a letter to the country’s Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, demanding the withdrawal of the parliamentary immunity of Petkov.

Regarding accusations coming from Tanov and Tsvetanov that Petkov took part in a meeting with Bulgaria’s notorious alleged crime bosses known as Galevi Brothers to discuss the redistribution of the illegal drugs market in the country, the ex Minister explained the meeting, which had nothing to do with illegal drugs, was arranged under the proposal of a subordinate, who had been present and later wrote a report about the talks. Petkov, however, declined offering a name, adding he was considering a defamation suit against the Customs Agency Director.

The former Minister also declared his successor Tsvetanov must be dismissed from throwing groundless accusations and over conflict of interests.

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