“The most important message of the Turkey – EU summit is that the latter now regains control over its external borders – something that we have insisted on for months. The other positive moment is the will that the readmission agreement between the community and our southern neighbor should start being fulfilled as quickly as possible” – those are the words of Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov. He underlined as particularly important the fact that Turkey had agreed to receive back all illegal migrants, taking off from its shores to the Greek islands. The Continent in its turn will welcome the same number of Syrians, residing in Turkey.

There has been no data on any enhanced migration pressure along the borders with Turkey, Greece and Macedonia after the closure of the Balkan route, the minister also stated.

“Bulgaria is prepared for any scenarios – from joint policing – army border trainings to an action plan ready, supported in terms of logistics and funding, so that we can react within hours to any potentially developing situation. Besides that we have agreed with our Turkish and Greek colleagues to warn us in advance in case any data of that kind appears,” Minister Mitov went on to say.

Measures for the busting of human trafficking criminal networks were framed in Brussels as well.

“The NATO operation across the Aegean Sea is starting now, but we hope that it will reduce the illegal trafficking activities. Of course, Turkey intends to prevent the establishment of any other alternative migrant routes and Bulgaria will defend the stance that this intention should turn into concrete actions”, Mr. Mitov commented.

The minister met students from the economy university in Sofia before his statements, in order to discuss with them the challenges before this country’s foreign policy. He said that over the past year Bulgaria was visited by politicians with regional and global influence. This has been one of the most active periods of our foreign policy in the sphere over the past decades.

Daniel Mitov commented the migrant crisis with the words that there was no everlasting refugee status. People, running away from states of conflicts now, will return someday and will participate in the restoration of their own countries, he added. The minister foresaw that not only wouldn’t Schengen collapse, but it would also expand soon - with Bulgaria and Romania.

The hybrid war is one of the most serious risks for our national security, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov underlined. Propaganda tries to undermine Bulgaria’s civilization choice and its national sovereignty. The whole of Europe has been suffering hybrid “therapy”, Mr. Mitov went on to say.

“We have been radiated with information GMOs which try to undermine the integration process on the Continent and Bulgaria’s European choice in particular. I will give two examples. The first came with my interview for a leading Russian agency which appeared in a quite different version later on – the entire balance of the text was broken and whole paragraphs had been wiped out. The second example: “my” interview on a newly created website. I learnt about the interview when the ambassador of the country mentioned in it contacted me afterwards. These are only brief examples of the disinformation factory working right now. The same source claimed that cumulus clouds were not condensed water, but some American chemical weapon. It also created the fiction on Bulgaria’s invitation of Turkish President Erdogan for the March 3 national fest at the Shipka Peak, forgetting about Russian President Putin. This type of hybrid disinformation creates this environment of uncertainty, of lack of trust towards our own institutions, sucking their energy out in providing explanations,” Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said in conclusion.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev