During an emergency meeting in the first work day of 2015 – January 5, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva discussed with the ministers of interior, defense, justice, regional development and agriculture major issues related to refugees. The urgency is a sign of some serious concerns.

Surprisingly, the Interior Minister has recently said that his department could not only deal with the influx of refugees, while the reinforcements to the border police reduced the capacity of the police to combat crime in the country. He called for help from the army. According to law, however, the army guards the border only during war, and the Defense Minister reminded that. Bulgarians witnessed lack of coordination and transferring of responsibilities between two major ministries.

This lack of coordination comes in a moment when experts say the refugee flow to Bulgaria will increase in the spring, not only from the east but from the west too, as several European countries plan to return to this country about 7000 refugees who went to their territory from Bulgaria. Under the Dublin Regulation, being the first EU country these refugees entered, Bulgaria will be obliged to accept them back. There is something absurd in the fact that a country is criticized by others for not being hospitable enough to refugees, whereas these other countries refuse admission of refugees on their territory. It turns out that refugees should be welcome only in the countries with external EU borders, one of which is Bulgaria.

During the emergency ministerial meeting it was decided to continue the construction of the fence along the border with Turkey despite pressure from human right organizations. It did not became clear, however, who and at what price will build the fence.

Ministers decided that within two weeks they will present an action plan for dealing with the expected rise of refugee pressure to Bulgaria. In this period a decision for building new refugee centers should also be taken. The Ministry of Defense could help by providing buildings, it no longer uses. But who will pay for their reconstruction?

Bulgaria will be looking for more dynamic relations with the EC on the issue of refugees, aiming at equal sharing of responsibilities within the EU and changing the current situation of the burden being taken only by southern countries. The problem is a common European one and requires a common solution, said after the meeting Deputy Prime Minister Kuneva. Senior officials of the previous government also called for this but no answer from Brussels has been received so far. Bulgaria calls also for the signing of a general tripartite agreement with Turkey and Greece for joint measures. A draft agreement was prepared by the previous government, but it remains unused as the most important principle remains “It's every man for themselves,” at least for the time being.

English: Alexander Markov