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Bulgaria wants EU money to cope with refugee crisis: PM

Xinhua, September 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said Thursday that his country wants European Union (EU) money to deal with the escalating refugee crisis.

"The EU currently pays much more attention to other border states such as Italy and Greece than to Bulgaria," Borissov told a roundtable meeting named "The Refugee Wave and the Challenges to the National Security."

An EU emergency summit in Brussels on Wednesday was focused entirely on Italy and Greece, Borissov said, though he pointed out that the land border between Bulgaria and Turkey is not shorter than that between Greece and Turkey.

"Bulgaria is currently making tremendous efforts to protect the Schengen area, and this should be taken into account by the European Council," he stated.

The refugee wave presses against the Bulgarian border, and in view of impending bad weather during the winter, these people cannot go back to Syria, so they will try to cross the border in panic, Borissov added.

He proposed to EU institutions in Brussels the setting up of security zones for refugees on the territories of Syria and Libya, adding the Syrian issue can only be resolved if the United States and Russia also take responsibility.

Bulgarian Vice President Margarita Popova told the roundtable the position of her country regarding migrants should contain three basic elements: humanity, security and solidarity.

"Solidarity means much more -- it could mean a change or adjustment of the national legislation to ease the way we accept the refugees, to make a good model for the integration of refugees," Popova said.

Last week, Bulgaria's Deputy Minister of Interior Philip Gounev said the European Commission's proposals for relocation of refugees and sharing the responsibility are inadequate to the realities in countries such as Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has spent tens of millions a year to guard the external borders of the EU against the 40 million euros (45 million U.S. dollars) given as European support for the next seven years.

"From our point of view, this is inadequate burden sharing," Gounev said. Endit