The mayor of Filipoupolis Zdravko Dimitrov ordered the closure of all schools in the municipality on March 31 against the background of the fourth consecutive day of hoax bomb threats against several schools in Bulgaria.

On March 30, schools in Sofia, Stara Zagora, Burgas, Veliko Turnovo, Varna, and Dobrich received bomb threats, the country’s media reported. Many schools suspended classes this week because of the threats, which have turned out to be hoaxes.

The threats, mostly received via email, began this week culminating on April 2 with the latest early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. Usually, many schools in Bulgaria are used as polling stations.

Central Election Commission (CEC) spokeswoman, Rositsa Mateva, told a press conference on March 30 that the commission was in constant contact with Acting Interior Minister Demerjiev, who is administratively responsible for the elections on behalf of the government.

Mateva said the CEC had been assured that the Ministry of Interior had taken all measures to secure the buildings to be used by sectoral electoral commissions.

From April 1, all polling stations will be guarded by the Interior Ministry, until the elections are over, so that the election process won’t be disrupted, he said.

Demerjiev said on March 30 that the investigation into the threats was well advanced. Earlier, he said the threats had ties to Russia, but later backtracked on that claim.

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