EC Confident Bulgaria Will Cope in Dogan Attack Aftermath

European Commission spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen has expressed her confidence in the Bulgarian authorities' ability to cope with the consequences of Saturday's incident, in which key politician Ahmed Dogan was attacked.

Police in Bulgaria detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader Ahmed Dogan as he was delivering a speech in the capital Sofia on Saturday. No shots were fired. The man was identified as Oktay Enimemehmedov, a 25-year-old ethnic Turkish resident of the city of Burgas.

"We are confident that Bulgaria will indeed be taking whatever action is really necessary in relation to those events," Hansen said during Monday's midday press briefing.

"We condemn any form of violence of this kind and we are confident that the Bulgarian authorities will take whatever action is needed," she added.

Dogan resigned his post as party chairman four hours after an attempt was made on his life.  His resignation had been rumored as incoming in the past couple of days. Lyutvi Mestan was elected as chair of Bulgaria's Movement for Rights and Freedoms party on Saturday.

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