Recently Bulgaria’s cabinet decided that the country should take part in the European naval operation against human smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean. A Bulgarian military man is to join the headquarters of the international operation. Bulgaria is subject to migratory pressure by land. However, the country agreed to show solidarity and participate in the EU initiative aimed at intercepting the refugee flow by sea. Recently the European Commission reduced the refugee quota for Bulgaria with nearly 33%. However, the European Union has been subject to unprecedented migratory pressure. Bulgaria is to receive from the EU only EUR 72 million from the total budget, in order to deal with the refugee flow on its territory. This amount is quite insufficient and Sofia has to apply for additional foreign financing in an appropriate moment, Deputy President of the European Commission Kristalina Georgieva contends.

Bulgaria has to make steps towards receiving additional financing now, because the number of the refugees entering its territory has been increasing sharply in recent months. In the first seven months of 2015 the migratory pressure towards Bulgaria doubled as compared to the same period last year. In January 2015, a total of 1,070 refugees entered Bulgaria and in July their number amounted to 1,869. Most immigrants come from conflict regions and countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and Bulgaria can not refuse to receive such refugees. Meanwhile, several EU countries may ask Bulgaria to receive back some 5,600 migrants. Most of them were about to receive a refugee status in Bulgaria, but decided to leave the country and depart to some Western European states. Now Bulgaria may be asked to take some of these refugees back due to the readmission agreement signed between the states, because such refugees are formally subject to deportation to the EU state where they were first registered as such. Bulgaria would not receive all refugees who previously left this country, which is a sign of relief, Commissioner Georgieva contends. However, even if half of these migrants are sent back to Bulgaria, the country would face serious problems and challenges. We are talking about people who proved that they intended to integrate in other EU countries, rather than in Bulgaria. According to the State Agency for Refugees, only 5%-10% out of all 10,000 refugees who received asylum would agree to integrate in Bulgaria. The process is voluntary and the rest of them have to be sent back to their native countries. However, this process is not easy at all, because some countries refuse to cooperate with the Bulgarian authorities.

The current High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini admitted that the EU has not developed a real system which allows the member states to share the number of the refugees and that the border countries will continue to be under biggest migratory pressure and others will show less solidarity. Apparently, being an EU external border country and at the same time the poorest EU member state, Bulgaria must rely mainly on its own resource and continue to look for ways to minimize the consequences of this problem and be part of the EU special policies against the problematic countries and regions.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov