site.btaBulgarian PM, German Chancellor Discuss Migrant Crisis and Complex Situation It Creates

Bulgarian PM, German Chancellor Discuss Migrant Crisis and Complex Situation It Creates

Sofia, July 28 (BTA) – Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov talked over the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the migrant crisis and the increasingly complex situation it creates, the government press office said. The conversation was initiated by Borissov.

The Bulgarian government leader briefed his German counterpart on the measures his country has undertaken to ensure security along the border, including after the coup attempt in Turkey. He said that the Defence Minister, the leadership of the Interior Ministry and himself are personally monitoring the situation on the border, and that additional personnel, patrols and equipment are deployed, which calls for additional financing. In this situation, Bulgaria has asked assistance from Frontex for providing equipment, patrol vessels and helicopters.

Chancellor Merkel promised to take the matter to the European Commission and to also discuss it with the German Interior Minister and see what support and assistance can be provided to Bulgaria.

The two government leaders also discussed Bulgaria’s request that the European Commission express a position on actions that will follow up from a recent decision by an international arbitration court ordering Sofia to pay up for equipment that a Russian contractor has produced for Bulgaria’s abandoned Belene N-plant project.

Other issues were the South Stream gas pipeline project, the Bulgarian idea for a gas hub and ongoing projects that Bulgaria is working on, the government press office said.