The nominee for governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), MP Lyubomir Karamanski from the ruling party There is Such a Nation, said in parliament that he had received threats by phone via SMS. "Withdraw your candidacy or your problems will start immediately, you have no idea how serious they will be," the message read.

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov ordered police and security services to conduct a full investigation. The ruling coalition has no common candidate for the BNB post.

The SIM card from which the threatening message was sent to MP Lyubomir Karamanski belonged to a Romanian citizen who had entered the country on 1 April, the Interior Ministry press centre said. 

• No consensus in ruling coalition on candidate for new BNB governor

The We Continue the Change party nominated MP Andrei Gyurov for the post. The co-chairman of the ruling Democratic Bulgaria party, Hristo Ivanov, has called for the withdrawal of both nominations, but the two parties have refused to do so.