Controversy surrounds Bulgarian PM Borissov over ‘hot spots’ for refugees
Reports from the special European Council meeting on the migrant crisis that Bulgaria is willing to host “hot spots” refugee centres have engulfed the country’s Prime Minister, Boiko Borissov, in controversy.
German chancellor Angela Merkel was reported to have said that Bulgaria, as a country along the European Union’s external border, could request to host a “hot spot” although “it is not as if we wanted to impose something on Bulgaria”.
The concept of the “hot spots” discussed at the European Council meeting was to establish, by the end of November, registration centres where European officials will document arriviing refugees and will accelerate the deportation of those who do not meet the criteria for protection.
Merkel was quoted as saying that Bulgaria – which was represented by PM Borissov at the European Council meeting in Brussels on September 23 – had said that while it was not part of the EU’s Schengen visa zone, it had a common border with Turkey and was subject to huge migration pressure.
She said that Bulgaria could ask to host a “hot spot” and would get the same kind of support from the EU as “frontline states” Greece and Italy.
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