Father of Kidnapped Bulgaria Student Gives up Mayoral Bid

The father of Bulgaria’s latest kidnapping victim has officially withdrawn his bid to run for Mayor of the town of Pravets near Sofia.

Rumen Guniski Sr. was the candidate of the Bulgaria Socialist Party (BSP), but had given up on his bid after learning his son, also Rumen Guninski, has been abducted.

The sudden move did not give time to BSP to react and replace their nominee before the registration deadline and decided to back up the independent candidate, Pavlin Tsvetkov, who is running against the representative of the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party.

22-year-old Rumen Gunenski Jr, was abducted Monday evening by a group of masked men who forced him into a van close to his dormitory in Sofia's Studentski Grad (College Town) Quarter.

In a short interview Tuesday morning for the TV Channel Pro.bg, the father declared that no ransom had been demanded from him, and that he had no idea who and why had kidnapped his son.