Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) was to blame for the refuse crisis in Sofia, Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov told journalists on July 24, commenting on the reasons why part of the refuse in the centre of Sofia had not been collected in the past days.

Borissov personally tipped off State Agency for National Security head Petko Sertov because it seemed very strange to him that precisely in the days when the European Commission (EC) would present its report on Bulgaria's progress in the fight against organised crime, all Roma people working in the cleaning companies did not go to work, Focus news agency quoted him as saying.

According to Borissov, their behaviour was organised. "They all went to the seaside for two days exactly when the EC report was released and then returned to work," he said.

The mayor hinted that the cleaning company concession could be annulled. If the concessionaire could not guarantee that such things did not happen, then the concessions on a number of additional neighbourhoods could also be changed when the city hall calls concession tenders for five neighbourhoods in March 2009, he said.

On July 24, Borissov also took part in a discussion on the NGOs in Bulgaria and their role in the country's development after entering the EU. Borissov countered the accusations of politicians from the ruling coalition that opposition parties were undermining the Cabinet.

"If we [Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB)], as a political party, had indeed influence on the EC to write these things in its report, so that it has political spice, then we are the most influential party in the world," he said.

Snap elections were inevitable, according to the mayor, and GERB was ready for the elections, having a team of experts and the full support of European parties, he said.