Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev is calling the Consultative Council for National Security for a sitting on Wednesday, November 20.

The formal and somewhat abstract title of the meeting is "Current Risks and Threats for National Security" and state institutions' readiness to meet them.

However, the central topic expected to be discussed is the influx of asylum seekers, mainly from Syria, which has been intensifying in recent months.

Albeit small on global standards - some 10 000 Syrian refugees are currently in the country - the migration wave is unprecedented for Bulgaria as it has the capacity to accommodate about 5 000.

The country is the gateway to the European Union for refugees fleeing Syria via Turkey, many crossing the border illegally. It has shown both the lack of preparedness of state institutions to accommodate the refugees, as well as the latent xenophobia of parts of Bulgarian societies.

Representatives of various Bulgarian political parties have long been urging Plevneliev to call a Security Council on the issue of refugees, with some saying that such a meeting is long overdue.

At the Wedensday meeting, Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev, as well as the Chief of the State Agency for National Security (DANS), Vladimir Pisanchev will present reports on the current situation.

Two weeks ago, Yovchev proposed a plan for reducing the number of illegal immigrants as along with asylum seekers from Syria, a large number of people from North Africa and the Middle East also cross the southern border with Turkey. The plan includes deportation of the latter. There is also a draft Bill on the issue with the refugee wave.

Under the law, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Defense, of Interior, of Foreign Affairs, and of Finance, the Chief of Defense and the chairs of all parliamentary represented parties are members of KSNS.

The Chief Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Security Council at the cabinet, the Director of Military Information Services at the Defense Ministry, the Director of the National Intelligence Services, the Director of the State Agency for National Security, DANS, the Director of NSO, other members of the Cabinet, NGO representatives, and security experts are expected to be in attendance.

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