Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev cancelled his visit to London, scheduled for April 4-5 2008, the Government's press service told The Sofia Echo on April 3 2008. Stanishev is currently attending the Nato summit in Bucharest and was due to travel for talks with his British counterpart Gordon Brown in London.

“The Prime Minister decided that it would be better for him to stay in the country”, the press service said.

Stanishev's decision to cancel its UK visit prompted speculations about a new outcome in the row surrounding Interior Minister Roumen Petkov.

A possible reason for Stanishev to stay in Bulgaria could be the meeting of the ruling coalition council, which would debate a possible Cabinet reshuffle, Bulgarian-language media has speculated in recent days.

Stanishev is leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the senior partner in the coalition that also includes National Movement for Stability and Progress, led by Simeon Saxe-Cobourg, and Movement for Rights and Freedoms, led by Ahmed Dogan.

On April 1 2008, BSP's leadership recommended to Stansihev to temporary dismiss Interior Ministry's chief secretary Valentin Petrov and keep minister Roumen Petkov on board.

Stanishev asked Petkov to prepare a report on the ministry's work for the past 18 years within the next 10 days. Petrov, according to Stanishev, would be dismissed so that “he does not hinder the investigation that the State Agency for National Security (SANS) has launched within the ministry”.

SANS was asked by Prosecutor's Office to probe several cases of information leaks from the ministry.