Bulgaria Says Angela Merkel Pledges Support for Its Bid for Additional Help from Frontex    

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. File photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has asked European border management agency Frontex to provide equipment, ships and helicopters to help the country protect the EU’s external border against irregular migration.

Borisov talked over the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the “increasingly complicated and difficult situation regarding the migrant crisis,” the Bulgarian government said in a statement on Thursday.

The telephone conversation was held on the initiative of Borisov who briefed the German Chancellor about the activities of the Bulgarian government aimed to ensure the security of the country’s borders, including after the failed coup attempt in Turkey on 15 July.

The Bulgarian prime minister noted that the cabinet is spending additional funds from its budget to provide more staff, patrols and equipment for the protection of the country’s borders.

Angela Merkel pledged to raise the issue of the need for additional assistance from Frontex to Bulgaria with the European Commission and speak with Germany’s Minister of the Interior about possible help from the federal government, according to the statement.

Borisov and Merkel also discussed Bulgaria’s request for an opinion of the European Commission about the coordination of follow-up action after the ruling of the International Court of Arbitration in a dispute between Bulgaria and Russia over the ditched Belene nuclear power  plant project.

The court ruled last month that Bulgaria must pay EUR 550 M to Russia as compensation for equipment already produced for the Belene plant, Bulgaria scrapped the project n 2012.

Boyko Borisov and Angela Merkel also discussed Bulgaria’s proposition to build a gas hub in Bulgaria, according to the statement.