Police officers may not get the planned 5% pay rise in 2027, interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told parliament's internal security committee. He was answering a question from MP Kalin Stoyanov of the DPS parliamentary group.

No decision has been made yet. One option is to leave pay unchanged in 2027 and raise it in stages from 2028.

Demerdzhiev said the possible delay is because police pay was already raised last year.

Staff who do police work will not be cut, the minister said. "In recent years about 6,000 police officers have been dismissed. We will not do that. But we will cut some duty units," Demerdzhiev said.

Cuts are also coming among management posts, duplicate positions and jobs where administrative and police work are mixed. The minister described some of the management posts as "artificially created over time".