The Ministry of Interior (, abbreviated МВР, MVR) of Bulgaria is the ministry charged with the national security and the upholding of law and order in the country.
The ministry was established in 1879 under Knyaz Alexander of Battenberg with the first prime minister and interior minister of what was then the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria being Todor Burmov.
The current interior minister is Ivan Demerdzhiev, since 8 May 2026.
Border Troops In the 1980s, the Border Troops (Гранични войски) were a paramilitary formation under the Interior Ministry tasked with guarding Bulgaria's borders. Heavily concentrated on Bulgaria's Iron Curtain border with NATO members Greece and Turkey the Border Troops would have come under the Ministry of People's Defence in times of war. However, the frontier with Romania was also actively defended. After the Cold War the border troops were reformed as the Border Police.
Until 1946 the Bulgarian border guard was a task of the regular army and each infantry regiment in proximity of the border had a border guard company.http://armymedia.bg/archives/48619 , "Bulgarian Army" newspaper, official publication of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence In 1946 the new Communist regime formed an independent service, dedicated to the border security on August 10, 1946, as the Border Militsiya, but this name lasted only until October 8, when it was renamed to Border Troops. The service initially numbered 8 Border Sectors (Гранични сектори (ГС)). The service was modeled on the Soviet Border Troops. Unlike them the Bulgarian Border Troops were not part of the State Security service, but subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior (between 1962 and 1972 to the Ministry of People's Defence). The internal structure of the troops was overhauled with ministerial order #44 from March 9, 1950, as follows: the highest formations (the Border Sectors) were renamed into Border Detachments (Гранични Отряди (ГО), an equivalent of a motorised rifle regiment in the army, but with a smaller manpower, and increased from 8 to 10) the battalion equivalents were renamed from Border Sections to Border Commandatures (Гранични Комендатури (ГК)) the company equivalents were renamed from Border Subsections to Border Outposts (Гранични Застави (ГЗ)) As a military formation each Border Detachment had its Command, Staff and supporting units. The number of the detachments varied through the Communist Era from 8 sectors at the formation of the Border Troops, to 10 in 1950 and 17 at the height of the service's build-up, to 12 in 1989, of which 1 was a training formation. The organization of the Border Troops, as published by the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to the State Security and Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian People's Army (A public commission, authorised by law of the Parliament to study the repressive apparatus of the Communist regime and to establish the connection of individuals to it) in a collection book of declassified documents, was as follows:
Directorate of the Border Troops (Управление на Гранични войски (УГВ)) Headquarters (Щаб, with 11 departments, such as Operations; Combat Training; Communications; Engineering etc.) Intelligence Section (Разузнавателно отделение (РО)) Intelligence Desk (Разузнаване (Р)) Counter-Intelligence Desk (Контраразузнаване (К)) Political Section (Политическо отделение (ПО), with 8 departments, such as Political Education; Editorial of the Border Troops official magazine; Technical Editorial; Library etc.) Rear (Тил, logistical services, 5 departments) Training Border Detachment (Учебен Граничен Отряд (УГО)) (Ivaylovgrad, former 18th Border Detachment) Sergeant School for Working Dog Handlers (Сержантска школа за инструктори на служебни кучета (СШИСК) (Berkovitsa) Supply and Support Battalion (Батальон за Обслужване и Осигуряване (БОО)) Border Detachments: 1st Border Detachment - Vidin (1ви Граничен Отряд – Видин (1 ГО)) including a Border Ships Division (Дивизион Гранични Кораби) for patrols on the Danube river 2nd Border Detachment - Dragoman (2ри Граничен Отряд – Драгоман (2 ГО)) 11th Border Detachment - Kyustendil (11ти Граничен Отряд – Кюстендил (11 ГО)) 3rd Border Detachment - Petrich (3ти Граничен Отряд – Петрич (3 ГО)) 6th Border Detachment - Gotse Delchev (6ти Граничен Отряд – Гоце Делчев (16 ГО)) 4th Border Detachment - Smolyan (4ти Граничен Отряд – Смолян (4 ГО)) 5th Border Detachment - Momchilgrad (5ти Граничен Отряд – Момчилград (5 ГО)) 13th Border Detachment - Lyubimets (13ти Граничен Отряд – Любимец (13 ГО)) 6th Border Detachment - Elhovo (6ти Граничен Отряд – Елхово (6 ГО)) 7th Border Detachment - Malko Tarnovo (7ми Граничен Отряд – Малко Търново (7 ГО)) 8th Border Detachment - Burgas (8ми Граничен Отряд – Бургас (8 ГО)) including a Border Ships Division (Дивизион Гранични Кораби) for patrols on the Bulgarian Black Sea coastline The border guards were conscripts, which underwent their training at the border detachment they were assigned to. After that those, who have displayed higher skills in the training process were sent to the Training Border Detachment for an NCO course. Of them small numbers were selected for training as working dog handlers at the K-9 Sergeant School. The officer candidates of the Border Troops studied at the Ground Forces Combined Arms Higher School in Veliko Tarnovo and the career development of Border Troops officers was carried out through courses at the Military Academy in Sofia and training institutes of the Soviet Border Troops in the Soviet Union.
Interior Troops The Interior Troops (Bulgarian: Вътрешни Войски (ВВ)) did not exist throughout the whole period of Communist rule in Bulgaria. They were formed during two distinct periods in the presence of a significant organized paramilitary force in opposition to the regime. The first such threat was the Goryani movement. In a report to the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party dated from October 12, 1948, the at the time Minister of the Interior Anton Yugov informs that for combating the anti-communist partizans 13 special combat units with 1 350 men in total have been formed. He brings to the attention of the committee, that due to their composition of regular Militsioners, family men in their mid-30s and older, a rising tension and physical strain has been observed because of the long periods of patrolling and fighting in the mountains where the Goryanes were active. For that reason Yugov suggests that a specialized Interior Troops arm should be formed in order to facilitate the utilization of conscripts for the Ministry of the Interior with the same conditions of military service as the conscripts of the Bulgarian Army, but trained in the specific counter-insurgency skills needed for such operations. In his report the minister suggests that initially about 1 000 conscripts should be trained by the 13 special combat units in order to relieve their personnel, after which additional 3 000 should be inducted to boost their numbers, with the corresponding reduction in manpower of the regular Militsiya by 3 000 men. Later the numbers of the IT increased to a division and even after the Goryani movement was destroyed their build-up continued to over 12 000 in two divisions and two specialized brigades with their own tanks, artillery, AAA, combat engineers etc., before their abrupt disbandment in 1961.
The second installment of the Bulgarian Interior Troops is from 1985 in connection to the Revival Process. A wave of terror attacks in the first half of the 1980s, including a bomb attack on a special passenger train coach for mothers traveling with little children on March 9, 1985, at Bunovo railway station, organized by the Turkish National-Liberation Movement terror organization, called for the re-establishment of a dedicated counter-insurgency paramilitary force in the structure of the Ministry of the Interior, to deal with the internal terror threat in cooperation with the State Security (Държавна Сигурност (ДС)) and the People's Militsiya (Народна Милиция (НМ)). The Interior Troops were tasked with counter-insurgency in mountainous and woodland terrain, riot control and security of locations of particular and strategic importance. The force was reinstated in 1985 and at the Boyana Roundtable Conference in the first half of 1990 convened between the Bulgarian Communist Party (recently renamed to Bulgarian Socialist Party) and the Union of Democratic Forces to reach an agreement about the reform of the country in light of radical changes in Eastern Europe it was publicly made clear (in response to a question), that the Interior Troops number 2 000 men in 6 battalions, plus the SOBT. The latter however is incorrect. The Specialized Counter-Terrorism Force (abbreviated SOBT in Bulgarian) has from its formation to present day (2017) been the premier counter-terrorism unit of the country, strategically subordinated directly to the Minister of the Interior as an independent agency in its own right. The confusion comes from the fact, that a security regiment of the IT has been based in Vranya, near the former Vrana Palace in barracks recently vacated by the State Security's Fifth Department (Department for Safety and Protection) (Пето управление (Управление за безопасност и охрана (УБО)), the higher state functionaries' close protection service. Since the abolition of the Bulgarian monarchy the palace has been turned into an official residence with permanent presence from the Ministry of the Interior. The battalion in question was the quick reaction paramilitary force for the capital Sofia. In fact the Vranya Battalion and the SOBT are located in adjacent barracks, which causes the confusion. The Interior Troops battalions were organised as rifle battalions with BTR-60s, trucks, automatic rifles, machine guns, mortars and anti-tank rockets. In 1990-91 the Border and the Interior Troops were amalgamated into the Troops of the Ministry of the Interior (Войски на МВР), then separated again. In 1993 the Interior Troops were renamed into Gendarmery, the traditional name from the time of the monarchy, banned after that for their role in hunting down communist partizans. Recently the Gendarmery has been absorbed into the Ministry of the Interior's Main Directorate "National Police" and as of 2017 the former Interior Troops and Gendarmery after that exist in the form of Specialized Police Forces (Специализирани Полицейски Сили) within the National Police. In 1989 they consisted of: Interior Troops Directorate (Управление "Вътрешни войски") (Sofia) (Detachment 72300) 1st Independent Operational Security Regiment (1ви Самостоятелен Оперативно-охранителен Полк) (Vrana Palace, Sofia) (Detachment 72345 (44270 before the establishment of the IT)) 1st Independent Operational Battalion (1ви Самостоятелен Оперативен Батальон) (Kardzhali) (Detachment 72350) 2nd Independent Operational Battalion (2ри Самостоятелен Оперативен Батальон) (Razgrad) (Detachment 72355) 3rd Independent Operational Battalion (3ти Самостоятелен Оперативен Батальон) (Dzhebel) (Detachment 72360) 4th Independent Operational Battalion (4ти Самостоятелен Оперативен Батальон) (Novi Pazar) (Detachment 72365) 5th Independent Operational Battalion (5ти Самостоятелен Оперативен Батальон) (Brezovo) (Detachment 72370) 6th Independent Operational Battalion (6ти Самостоятелен Оперативен Батальон) (Burgas) (Detachment 72375)
Organisation The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Interior Affairs. The position is considered a power appointment and in the modern Bulgarian history (both during the Socialist period and in the post-1989 democratic period) the Minister is also a Deputy Prime Minister. The Deputy Ministers and a Parliament Secretary form his Political Cabinet along with the Chief of the Political Cabinet.