Our task is to provide access for each EU country to three gas sources

Caspian Energy (CE): Your Excellency, Bulgaria is located in the center of the Balkans. What will be the influence of the situation with migrants on the economy of the EU and economic prospects of integration of Bulgaria? What solution would you suggest in such situation? 

Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria: The conflict in Syria and developments in recent years in other countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and some other is a tremendous tragedy. The concern of people in the European Union is great. Bulgaria which has experienced similar cataclysms in its longtime history is deeply committed to the destinies of the people who flee from their homeland in pursuit of safety. It is important to note that we clearly differentiate between refugees who seek asylum as they flee from areas of armed conflicts and economic migrants who seek the most comfortable habitation. Inevitably under such a sweeping refugee wave the two influxes will impact one another, yet we, the Europeans draw a demarcation line between the two kinds of migrants and take a differentiated approach to them.

Bulgaria has taken all necessary measures that are in line with the highest standards to ensure the safety and security of the EU external border. Notwithstanding the constraints of our budget and economy which is still recovering from the negative impacts of the global financial and economic crisis and is suffering the sanctions that have been imposed against Russia, we have invested human and financial resources in good border management. We have set up a Council for Migration, Asylum and Integration and worked out a plan to address the asylum seekers’ essential needs: healthcare, food, shelter, affordable education and job seeker opportunities.

However, this cannot be a solution to the migrant crisis in Europe. I have repeatedly stressed that we must seek a solution to the problem where it has arisen and identify the roots of the problem. For a very long time our effort has been seeking to address the consequences, so whatever we may be doing now is but a palliative measure. Relocation of migrants, erection of walls and installation of fences along the borders will not solve the problem. Therefore it is important that we should focus on the migration generating factors, namely conflicts. Moreover, Bulgaria believes the Dublin Regulation is no longer able to keep pace with the movement of migration. The Regulation needs to be revised to incorporate provisions concerning the introduction of a uniform refugee status and of a uniform application for placement under international protection that are valid throughout the whole EU. Further, Bulgaria supports the idea of the establishment of reception refugee and migrant centers in non EU states and of the installation of buffer security zones in the countries of origin so that people can live, work and attend school there. The EU allocated resources should be earmarked essentially for that.

Evidently, a country, even if it happens to be the largest and the richest country, cannot cope with the crisis on its own. It is even more difficult for Bulgaria that has a small economy and still a long way to go before it achieves the average European standards. The EU cannot receive all migrants either as the reception would exert tremendous pressure on our social and financial systems and would be an ordeal to be undergone by our governments’ responsibility for national security and economic stability. Therefore, we need more than a concerted European response; we need the involvement into these processes of partners like the USA and Russia, especially with regard to the settlement of the Syria issue. We urgently need multiple international efforts to uproot the causes of migration in the countries of origin and to bring about lasting peace in the Middle East.