Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva have again been raising the issue of more European solidarity for tackling Bulgaria’s problems with regard to the inflow of refugees. The refugee problem was on the agenda of Meglena Kuneva’s visit to Germany just one week after it was the subject of bilateral talks in Sofia between the foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Germany.

At the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Minister Mitov once again demanded that Bulgaria receive financial assistance for coping with the growing migratory pressure and for the integration of the refugees already on the territory of the country. Integration is an issue that has been receiving a great deal of attention of late. Along with the insufficient dialogue with the NGO sector and the European institutions, the problem of integration was the reason why personnel changes were affected at the State Agency for Refugees. The questions Minister Mitov raised in Brussels, were the same questions Deputy Prime Minister Kuneva put to European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos.

In Brussels the Bulgarian side also raised the question of support for the country’s accession to Schengen. Deputy Prime Minister Kuneva discussed it with Commissioner Avramopoulos as well as with Anna Fotyga, chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence. For some months now, the idea has prevailed that enlarging Schengen is no longer merely a matter of the free movement of persons, but also of European security. Deputy Prime Minister Kuneva stated in Brussels that to be able to uphold its interests better, Bulgaria will take an active part in the discussions of the EU’s migration strategy. This strategy is to be presented next month after more than 10 years in which it has not been upgraded – for months Bulgaria had been demanding that its update be included in the EU’s agenda.

The government also turned to the Bulgarian MEPs for assistance in tackling the refugee issue. Sofia has been very insistent that a bilateral border control protocol be concluded with Turkey, and a tripartite protocol – with Turkey and Greece. Though the cabinet’s efforts in tackling the refugee issue have been markedly operatic, the persistence with which it has been bringing the problem to the attention of Brussels and of neighbouring countries is only logical. The warnings that the migratory pressure will augment with the coming of spring have been proven true, with the effects of the belated dialogue and interaction with the European institutions last year still fresh in our memory. At the beginning of March the government declared it had a plan for the integration of refugees and for setting up municipal information consultancy centres for immigrants though it is refraining from giving any details, as it does not have the necessary estimates for lack of money, it says.

Sofia’s latest talks with Brussels may not have resulted in anything more than a mere display of understanding, still they keep up the hopes that this verbal solidarity may become more substantial with the approaching spring peak in the number of incoming refugees that is probably a matter of days.

English version: Milena Daynova