Svetlozar Lazarov, Chief Secretary of Bulgaria's Interior Ministry, has admitted that the household crime crisis persists despite a decrease in the crime rate.

In a Sunday interview for private TV station bTV, he noted that the household crime rate had dropped by 1.5% from 2012, adding that it was a sign that the crisis had been brought under control.

Lazarov argued that it was a major problem that the authorities relied on people, not technology, to counteract crime.

He also informed that 2/3 of thefts remained unsolved, causing more and more people to give up reporting the offences to the police.

Lazarov, as cited by dnevnik.bg, suggested that the right approach involved cooperation between the Interior Ministry and the people.

"There is a systemic problem, it cannot be resolved with a magic wand, but we do not feel powerless," the Chief Secretary of the Interior declared.

Lazarov, however, boasted about an increase in the amount of intercepted drugs and cigarettes, a reduction in smuggling rates, and gaining control over the refugee flow.

Asked to comment on the problem of unauthorized use of special surveillance equipment, he said that the Interior Ministry lacked the technical resources to engage in illegal wiretapping.

He was adamant that the political leadership had no control over wiretapping.

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