Bulgaria Urged to Reassess Terrorism Threat

Bulgaria needs to review terrorist threats to the country, the Consultative Council on National Security said in the wake of the recent suicide bombing in Burgas.President Rosen Plevneliev convened the Council on Thursday in the wake of the July 18 suicide bombing, which killed five Israelis and a bus driver in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas.

“After analysis, we need to upgrade our conceptual model for counter- terrorism,” the official statement from the meeting read.During the meeting, President Plevneliev stated that the attack had revealed weaknesses in the existing security system and proved that new challenges lie ahead.

The National Security Council advised the government to re-assess the security environment, update the anti-terrorism conceptual model, and improve the crisis center at the Council of Ministers.

The Council is convened by the President, and is composed of the Speaker of Parliament, leaders of parliamentary groups, the Prime Minister, and key security ministers.

On exiting from the meeting, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov refused to comment on developments in the investigation of last week’s terror attack.