Bulgarian politician resigns over corruption charge

The chief Bulgarian negotiator with the European Union, Alexander Bozhkov, has submitted his resignation after being accused of corruption.

A Bulgarian government statement said that the prime minister, Ivan Kostov, asked for his resignation after receiving a report on alleged irregularities when Mr Bozhkov was deputy prime minister from May 1997 until the end of last year.

The Bulgarian news agency BTA said the prime minister had received evidence that Mr. Bozhkov had been involved in issuing false documents.

Representatives of the Council of Europe who recently visited Bulgaria expressed concern about what they said was continuing evidence of widespread corruption arising from the privatization process.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service