Bulgarian President to discuss refugee crisis on Security Council

Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev is calling the Consultative Council for National Security for a sitting on Wednesday, November 20.

The formal and somewhat abstract title of the meeting is “Current Risks and Threats for National Security” and state institutions’ readiness to meet them.

However, the central topic expected to be discussed is the influx of asylum seekers, mainly from Syria, which has been intensifying in recent months.

Albeit small on global standards – some 10 000 Syrian refugees are currently in the country – the migration wave is unprecedented for Bulgaria as it has the capacity to accommodate about 5 000.

The country is the gateway to the European Union for refugees fleeing Syria via Turkey, many crossing the border illegally. It has shown both the lack of preparedness of state institutions to accommodate the refugees, as well as the latent xenophobia of parts of Bulgarian societies.

Representatives of various Bulgarian political parties have long been urging Plevneliev to call a Security Council on the issue of refugees, with some saying that such a meeting is long overdue.

At the Wedensday meeting, Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev, as well as the Chief of the State Agency for National Security (DANS), Vladimir Pisanchev will present reports on the current situation.