Vice-presidential candidate Georgi Kandev has presented "RAMO", an initiative to protect children from violence, addiction and danger. He called it his personal priority for his term.
The initiative does not create a new agency that would duplicate existing ones. Instead, the president's office will use its authority to link institutions, raise problems with them and press them to report publicly.
Kandev and presidential candidate Andrey Gyurov are number 4 on the ballot. Kandev has many years of experience in security and has worked at every level of the Interior Ministry, including as chief secretary.
"My mission is for the state to reach the child before violence, addiction or radicalisation does," he said.
The name stands for four principles in Bulgarian: "Recognition", "Adequate intervention", "Mechanisms for support" and "Responsibility".
"Recognition" means spotting signs of risk in time. These include dangerous contacts online, aggression, isolation, bullying at school, changes in behaviour and first signs of addiction. Kandev wants teachers and parents to be better informed and to be able to turn to a specialist.
He says intervention does not have to mean police or punishment. A child may get psychological help, social support or protection, and law enforcement steps in when needed. The response must match the real risk, be in the child's interest and come from qualified specialists.
The support mechanisms must keep families, schools, police, social services and civic groups in touch with each other. As vice president, Kandev would develop "RAMO" as just such a permanent link. Parents would get guidance, teachers would get professional support, and children at risk would get help. The work must go on over time, cases must be followed up, and the whole family must get help.
"Responsibility" requires a clear answer to who is acting, what steps have been taken and whether the child is actually protected. Institutions must report on their work, admit their failings and fix them. Kandev says a report, a meeting or passing a case to another institution does not mean the problem is solved.
"No child should be left alone while institutions pass responsibility between them," the candidate said.
Violence among children is not just another campaign topic, Kandev said. For years he has seen the results when adults and institutions spot the problem too late. For that reason, he says, the state should not wait for a child to be hurt, a crime to be committed or a family to be in serious trouble.
He admitted that the president and vice president do not run schools, police or social services. Their role is to put the issue among national priorities, hold meetings between institutions, make problems public, check whether commitments are kept and press for a public report.
Gyurov and Kandev say security starts with people's everyday lives. They say it is measured by the state's ability to prevent danger, not just by the number of operations, solved crimes or adopted strategies. A family that asks for help should get a timely response, a teacher's warning should be looked at, and for a child at risk the state should use every legal tool.