Sega newspaper carries a front page headline that reads: “Bulgaria starts to take in refugees from Turkey,” under a government decision, made on Wednesday that has not been made public. The caretaker cabinet cites the agreement signed between the EU and Turkey in March on the resettlement of migrants which is not recognized by the General Court of the EU or by some countries. The decision makes no mention of the number of people to be accepted by Bulgaria, but according to a Sega source it is a matter of around 50 people. Bulgaria is obliged to take in 50 people again from Greece or Italy by the end of the year under a different agreement. The refugees from Turkey will be selected by Bulgarian teams of experts from the State Agency for Refugees, the State Agency for National Security, the Interior Ministry as well as interpreters, dispatched to Turkey. The papers will be drawn up by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but Bulgarian teams will be checking the authenticity of the passports, taking fingerprints and compiling dossiers of personal data and other information, on the basis of which an evaluation will be made of any possible grounds for considering a foreign national to be a threat to the public or national security of Bulgaria. Sega comments that, paradoxically, Bulgaria is beginning to implement the agreement with Turkey at a time of deep crisis in the relations between Erdogan and the European governments. Moreover, at the beginning of the month the General Court of the EU rejected as unofficial the accord between the EU and Turkey, stating that neither the European Council, not any other EU institution has made any decision to conclude an agreement with the Turkish government. The paper notes that on the same day the Bulgarian cabinet made the decision to take in refugees from Turkey, the leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland declared they would not endorse the migrant resettlement plan drafted by the EU, because they consider it to be “blackmail, pure and simple”.
Compiled by Stoimen Pavlov
English version: Milena Daynova
75.3% of Bulgarians identify themselves as Orthodox, 9.9% as Muslim and 11% as not religious. 59.5% say they believe in God and 27.5% do not. The rest are undecided. A fifth of respondents say they frequently attend religious services. These are..
GERB leader Boyko Borissov announced that he is extending a hand to the parties from the former assemblage to seek an option of governance after the elections, the BNR’s reporter Daniel Inkov informed. Boyko Borissov emphasized that pragmatism in..
Before the start of the new school year, the ''Give a Book'' Foundation is collecting notebooks, plimsolls, pencil cases and backpacks filled with school supplies for homes for children deprived of parental care. For 14 years, the foundation has..
Bulgaria ranks second in the world in terms of bread consumption after Turkiey, reported BNT citing the Turkish news site Yenigün. According to the..
Before the start of the new school year, the ''Give a Book'' Foundation is collecting notebooks, plimsolls, pencil cases and backpacks filled with school..
With the votes of GERB, We Continue the Change (PP-DB) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), Parliament decided to extend by 180 days the..
+359 2 9336 661