Interior Minister Says Bulgaria Will Fulfill Its Commitment to Accept Refugees

Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova assured that Bulgaria will fulfill its commitment to accept the refugees, who will be distributed from Greece, Italy and Hungary according to the new quota system unveiled by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday.

Bachvarova stated this during an international conference on security in Southeastern Europe on Friday, private bTV station informs.

She also noted that Bulgaria will not trade the acceptance of refugees for the country's accession to the Schengen Area.

In her words, Bulgaria has to express solidarity in the current situation and accept refugees from other countries.

However she had no answer as to how people, who do not wish to come to Bulgaria will be persuaded to stay in the country.

According to her, Bulgaria deserves to be admitted to the Schengen Area as the country has fulfilled all the technical requirements and the admission was one of the conditions in the country's EU pre-accession treaty.

However it was not the right time to insist for accession to the Schengen Area and the admission should not be made conditional on the acceptance of refugees.

The deputy prime minister warned that terrorism has reached the doorstep of Bulgaria and it should not be ignored, but instead should be viewed in national, Balkan and common European context.

In her words, the conflicts in the Middle East and the hardships in Africa have placed the EU at the crossroads of many different problems.

Between the beginning of the year and September 3, a total of 17 048 foreigners have been detained at the Bulgarian borders and in the interior of the country.

The largest number of migrants have been detained as they attempted to enter the country – 6798, the majority of them being Syrians (3717), followed by citizens of Afghanistan (1309), Iraq (1417), Pakistan (171), Turkey (45) and 139 people of other nationalities.

More than 4000 have attempted to enter the country illegally, while 2201 passed through the border checkpoints.

A total of 5198 foreigners were detained in the interior of the country, while 5052 people were arrested as they attempted to leave Bulgaria.

According to the statistics of the interior ministry, the largest number of people, who had entered the country illegally and then attempted to leave it, came from Afghanistan – 2479, followed by citizens of Syria (1942) and Iraq (1572).

Despite the attempts at guarding the border, more than 10 000 foreigners were intercepted after they had entered the country illegally.

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