site.btaInterior Minister: Bulgaria Won’t Take In Refugees for Whom It Is Not Responsible

Bulgaria won’t and can’t take in refugees for whom it is not responsible, Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said during a parliamentary committee hearing in relation to Bulgaria’s accession of Schengen by air and sea. 
 
Stoyanov said that Bulgaria has committed to working with Austria and Romania to limit secondary movements in implementation of the EU law. “This means strict application of the Dublin Regulation and readmitting individuals who have been registered in Bulgaria as seeking international protection and for whom Bulgaria is responsible,” he added. He specified that under the commitment there will be strengthened cooperation and the formal procedures will be streamlined. 
The Minister said that readmissions of refugees under the Dublin Regulation have been in place for ten years. He added that in 2023 Austria asked for 193 transfers to Bulgaria, of which 113 were implemented. 
  
The number of illegal migrants in Western Europe who say that they cross through Bulgaria is very small, said Stoyanov. If the asylum system in Bulgaria gets strained, the country may ask for solidarity with the EU. No single country will have to cope alone, said Stoyanov.  
  
The Interior Minister told MPs that the Turkish Interior Minister is expected to visit Bulgaria on February 1 and that the actions of the Bulgarians and Turkish border authorities in relation to migration are effective and that migrant numbers are down. 

Bulgaria reached a principled agreement with Austria on joining Schengen by air and sea for a start, but not by land. Vienna’s arguments against entry for land borders were related to illegal migration from third countries. 

The Council's announcement triggered criticism by some politicians in Bulgaria that the Government in Sofia had agreed to additional conditions, including accepting refugees from Syria and Afghanistan.