Foreign Minister: Bulgaria to ask European Commission for assistance in face of refugee influx
Instability in the Middle East is creating strong migratory pressure on Bulgaria and the European Union, and Bulgaria intends asking the EU and other partners for support and assistance, caretaker Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said on October 16.
Speaking at a scheduled meeting with EU ambassadors in Sofia, Mitov emphasised the dire situation in Syria and Iraq, which was generating continuing instability.
He said that this posed a serious risk not only to neighbouring countries but also to the entire EU and global security.
“Bulgaria supports all the actions of our allies and partners against the actions of the ‘Islamic State’ terrorist organisation,” Mitov said.
Briefing the EU ambassadors on the strong migratory pressure that Bulgaria has been facing, he said, “in spite of the measures, the refugee flow has increased in the past year, so we will turn to the European Commission and our other partners for support and assistance”.
The caretaker government has been in office since early August and will remain until a cabinet is elected.
Its predecessor, the now-departed administration that was appointed on the basis of a mandate handed to the Bulgarian Socialist Party, faced in 2013 a significantly increased inflow of refugees into Bulgaria, mainly across the Turkish border, the result in particular of the crisis in Syria.
Steps taken included stepping up the Bulgarian police presence at the border and the building of a hugely expensive 30km fence. Mitov previously has described the latter as only a temporary measure.
