Bulgaria FM: IS Cannot Be Defeated without Ground Offensive

A ground offensive against the Islamic State (IS) group is indispensable for its destruction, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said on Monday.

Sofia believes the intervention should be conducted by Gulf states, and not by Western Europe, he told the Bulgarian National Radio after a EU meeting.

The Foreign Minister, who commented on anti-IS effort after meeting EU counterparts in Brussels, opined that "everybody knows an intervention, a military one, on the ground," is inevitable.

He stressed that Bulgaria had been calling for diplomatic efforts to bring Turkey, Saudi Arabia together for talks over the war in Syria.

IS claimed responsibility for the terror attacks on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium in Paris, France on Friday evening. A total of 129 people died and hundreds was injured in the deadliest attack in France's post-war history.

Mitov also commented on the migrant crisis, amid renewed claims across Europe that Europe's move to welcome thousands of migrants from the Middle East was to blame for the incidents.

On relocation quotas approved earlier this autumn, he said it had become "absurd" to discuss the idea. In October, Bulgaria was among the countries that had accepted the relocation proposal.

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