Bulgaria’s caretaker Defence Minister calls for urgent meeting of government security council on Middle East

The Defence Ministry is carrying out on March 4 a new comprehensive analysis of the risks and threats from the conflict in the Middle East, according to caretaker minister Atanas Zapryanov, who said that he had asked for an urgent meeting of the government security council.

Zapryanov said that the sharp change in position and course towards a new assessment of the risks of war came after Iran began attacking countries in the region that are not included in the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

“The ballistic missiles launched from the territory of Iran towards Türkiye, a Nato country, as well as the provocation a few days ago with the missiles launched a few days ago towards Cyprus, radically change the assessments in which we planned and announced that there was no immediate threat to the territory of the country,” he said.

As The Sofia Globe reported on February 28, a meeting of the government security council held that day concluded that there was no direct military threat to Bulgaria from the situation in the Middle East.

On March 4, National Assembly Speaker Raya Nazaryan told Parliament that Zapryanov had informed the legislature that he had issued orders authorising the passage through the air space, and stay on the territory of Bulgaria, of allied and foreign armed forces and assets.

The notifications have been provided to Parliament’s defence committee, Nazaryan said.

On March 3, Zapryanov reiterated that Bulgaria will not participate in military operations related to the conflict involving Israel, the US and Iraq.

He said that the Bulgarian military structures remain focused on their obligations within the Nato Alliance.

Zapryanov said that Bulgaria’s position is in line with the official line of the Pact, and quoted the clear guarantees given by Secretary General Mark Rutte: “Nato does not participate in such an operation.”

Zapryanov said that Bulgaria’s membership of Nato does not make the country an automatic target, but quite the opposite – it provides a reliable shield against external aggression.

On March 4, Deputy Interior Minister Ivan Anchev said: “We have no reason as a country to worry about increased migration pressure in connection with regional military crises and the conflict in the Middle East”.

“At the moment, we are only informed of one detained person at the border and he is not an Iranian citizen. Zero inside the country and zero at the exit – this is the summary of the situation,” Anchev said.

“In the short and medium term, we do not see a migration risk. This, of course, depends on the situation in Iran and the Middle East. But I dare to confirm that what we witnessed in 2015 will not be repeated,” he said, referring to the situation 11 years ago when large numbers of Syrian refugees came to Europe.

On March 4, Bulgarian National Radio reported that in the mountain resort town of Bansko, all reservations for tourists from Israel and other Middle Eastern countries affected by the war have been cancelled.

“Hotels are empty and the winter season is on the verge of failure, the tourism business claims, and they demand that  the state provide assistance  to the staff for at least two months,” the report said.

Thousands of overnight stays have been cancelled in the mountain resort in the last week alone   , the Tourism Business Union said.

This is a serious blow, as the month of March is filled mostly with tourists from Israel, Malin Bistrin said: “March was absolutely booked for tourists from Israel. They come for five to seven days depending on the flights. Some wonderful tourists. Abrupt cancellation of reservations.

“We have refunded everyone’s money and are currently refunding it because we want to be fair to them,” Bistrin said.

A total of three airlines will evacuate Bulgarians from countries in the Middle East on March 4 and 5, the Ministry of Transport said. Bulgarians will be transported from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman.