A dual national arrested in Bulgaria on terrorism charges earlier this week wanted to join extremists fighting in Syria, the Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor's Office says.

Ivan Zahariev, 21, came under scrutiny from authorities after starting to visit a number of firing ranges upon his return to Bulgaria from Australia, the prosecutor's spokesperson, Rumyana Arnaudova, has told the Bulgarian National Television.

Police also found religious literature in his home, she has added. Zahariev himself maintains he needs the literature for disputes with his friends on social media.

"Twenty days after his entry [into Bulgaria] actions were undertaken with regard to the fact that the person entered Bulgaria with the intention to join an organization in Syria. The Prosecutor's Office finds that his intention was to take part in terror attacks in Syria," Arnaudova has said.

"There was no danger for Bulgaria whatsoever."

He entered Bulgaria legally on March 18, and the probe triggered three weeks after his arrival showed he had been on a two-day training to Syria.

He chose Bulgaria as a place where he could be trained to get actively involved in a terrorist organization, according to the prosecution.

An instructor at one of the firing ranges he attended is quoted as saying Zahariev pointed a gun at him.

The Specialized Prosecutor's Office will send a request for legal assistance to Austrialia, whose judicial authorities also suspected Zahariev of connections with extremist groups, she has added.

Zahariev, the son of a Bulgarian father and a Vietnamese mother, does not speak Bulgarian as he spent most his life in Australia.

Raised as a Christian, he converted to Islam in 2013.

However, he told he court he had renounced his new religion earlier this year to be a Christian again.

The 21-year-old claims he came to Bulgaria to apply foe Bulgarian citizenship (a fast-track procedure, given the Bulgarian nationality of one of his parents) and then intended to return to Australia. He wanted to arrive with his father, but the latter had trouble with his Australian pension and could only travel to Bulgaria three months later.

"Yes, I was to leave Bulgaria. I wanted to study in Australia and to work for services there, as I know a lot about radical Islam," daily 24 Chasa quotes him as telling the court when asked whether he intended on heading to Syria.

His father argues Ivan went to Turkey in 2013 to help at a refugee camp.

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