The crisis in Iraq has gone beyond the humanitarian dimension and has directly threatened the European Union outer borders, Bulgaria included, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said while attending a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. The EU chief diplomats convened for an extraordinary meeting in Brussels to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Iraq, escalating violence in Libya and the negative consequences from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East with special attention paid to the developments in Gaza. On Monday, the caretaker foreign minister made public his position at the Council while presenting the members of his political office:

„For the first time we are witnessing crises at level 3 of the United Nations scale, especially where Iraq is concerned”, Minister Mitov explained. “We are going to have a problem with the refugee flow. In the meantime, it would be wrong to ignore the self-proclaimed Islamic State. All member-countries should join efforts to stop this plague. Readiness was voiced for supporting the Kurdish security forces in Iraq and there was a call to member-countries to provide humanitarian aid.”

On the occasion of an article dated 15 August and carried by Bild, the Bundeswehr has got a secret plan to arm Iraqi Kurds with Kalashnikov rifles from Bulgaria and Romania.More from Minister Mitov:

„It is clear that the European Union and its member-states have serious concerns over the developments in Iraq”, he went on to say. “France has already sent military aid. Germany plans to do so soon. The Czech Republic is mulling a similar move. Britain has joined the campaign as well. No decision on this issue has been made in Bulgaria so far and in the case of an official request the issue will be discussed and options will be studied.”

Minister Mitov added that “Russia bears grave responsibility for the destabilization of Ukraine, but it is also important to make sure that when Kiev is discussing anti-Russia sanctions it involves its European partners in the discussion too”.

„Russia should realize that its actions are counter-productive. We strongly count on the resumption of EU-Ukraine-Russia dialogue and on that a solution will be found at the summit level”, Bulgaria's chief diplomat said. “We hope that no new sanctions will be imposed but this does not mean that an escalation of the conflict will not prompt such sanctions."

The extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council has worked out a position for solidarity within EU for surmounting the consequences from the Russian ban on farming goods imports. Very soon, an EU council of agriculture ministers will be held to discuss and evaluate compensations to farmers from the Russian embargo.

Another priority of the team of caretaker Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov is the support of Kristalina Georgieva's nomination. She is running for a second mandate in the European Commission and for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

„We are working on this objective in coordination with our EU partners. Mrs Georgiva has a very high reputation in Europe. She is one of the European bureaucrats who have never been the target of negative remarks. She is very respected by her colleagues and represents an indisputable human capital for Bulgaria."

In case the post is distributed to the European Socialists Bulgaria will demand a priority European Commission office for Kristalina Georgieva, Daniel Mitov said.

The organization of the election process abroad and Bulgaria's preparation for the rotating EU presidency in 2018 are other chief priorities in the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the term of the caretaker government, Minister Daniel Mitov said.

English Daniela Konstantinova