“I received information from the social services about the case of Mladezhki hals, in order to assess what long-term measures should be taken regarding the antisocial behavior of minors and juveniles and how to work with the families of these children, do they work with their brothers and sisters, are there problems in the families, how can we help the parents and other children“. This was said by the Minister of Social Affairs Natalia Efremova during her visit to Plovdiv, after inspecting the social services for the murder of Georgi Kuzev.
She pointed out that since the children detained for the murder are in custody, specific measures from the social services cannot be taken for them at the moment. They will be provided with psychological assistance when the psychologists of the social services are admitted, added Efremova.
Our focus is on the prevention of such manifestations as work and measures, but not campaign-wise, but systematically, said the social minister. “First of all, we must improve the public's trust in the institutions, because due to its lack we are witnessing situations with tragic endings. Secondly, we must work on coordination between the systems that aim to protect children,“ Efremova pointed out.
She also said that the social services and “Child Protection“ work with all children who are not in custody, and added that they also work with the parents, but not all of them provide assistance because they are embarrassed to seek social services.
None of the four students accused of the brutal murder in Plovdiv has been on the verge of expulsion
„So far, some of the children have been worked with, they have been referred to social services, and some of the families have refused assistance. With others, there is little interest and distrust, which is why real preventive work could not be carried out“, said the Minister of Social Affairs.
Efremova pointed out that there are mechanisms in place for coordination and work between institutions. „The effect of interaction in different places is different. In some municipalities, they work very well, in others, the coordination is weaker. But it is undoubtedly clear that when it comes to anti-social acts, there is an obvious need for the Law to be changed and modernized in order to respond to the changed public attitudes and situations that we are witnessing”, Minister Efremova was categorical.
According to her, the entire law must be rewritten, because it contains measures that do not correspond to modern requirements for working with children and parents.
According to information from NOVA, the young people detained for the beating to death study at the Plovdiv Language High School, the “Hristo G. Danov“ Secondary School, the “Paisiy Hilendarski“ Secondary School and the “Vasil Levski“ Sports School. One of the girls is from Stara Zagora.
According to child psychiatrist Dr. Nikolay Popov, who also prepares the forensic examinations in this type of case, the young people most likely suffer from a deficit of a normal family environment and have been subjected to various forms of violence.
“Aggression or general behavior that the group does, even if perceived as immoral outside the group, becomes acceptable when the group does it together. The desire of teenagers to rule the world, to command the world around them”, explained the psychiatrist.
According to him, these young people do not meet understanding at school, do not have many friends and are looking for an environment in which they feel good.
“Everyone says that “I am different“. Let me really be different. Let me then choose something that is different. And aren't the neo-Nazi groups we're talking about, and similar gangs and organizations, exactly like that – different, which will unite them to live better”, Dr. Nikolay Popov also pointed out.
Criminalist on those accused of the murder in Plovdiv: The thinking of these young people is like that of the terrorists from “Al Qaeda“
Today, the neighbors of the neo-Nazi club say that the group gathered mostly in the evenings, and only the tenant came during the day. The regional prosecutor's office will protest yesterday's court decision, by which the father Ivelin Velev was released on a 1,000 euro bail, and his 18-year-old son – released without charge.
In the “Interview in NOVA News” Social Minister Natalia Efremova also said that with regard to the neo-Nazi club "Blood and Honor" it is clearly a matter of concentration of influence on children by adults. "Our work, together with the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and with schools, has begun with specific instructions and measures that must be taken immediately," she said.
In her words, we live in a new world with new technologies, for which we are not prepared, which has become clear from the situation in Plovdiv, which can happen anywhere else. “Our greatest responsibility is to give children knowledge so that they can protect themselves, to distinguish between what is virtual reality and what is the reality around us. To distinguish between good and bad, so that they can have critical thinking when they are on social networks. These lessons must be taught everywhere, first of all in the family, but also in schools, which can provide additional knowledge. We can use the entire network - both social services and youth centers, we also have a highly developed non-governmental sector that can help. If all institutions work together in sync, I believe that children can be given enough information to protect themselves”, the Minister of Social Affairs was categorical.
Efremova also said that better synchronization in the exchange of information between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and social services is to be established. “After the inspection in Plovdiv, it became clear that they all had some partial information, but they did not interact well enough. This is a matter of mechanisms that are not well enough synchronized with each other to be able to transmit information“, the minister explained.