Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has reiterated his idea that the deployment of Bulgarian soldiers in Afghanistan might be cancelled.

Borisov, who has already mentioned the option, has again cited the contradiction between the international coalition's commitment to enforcing security and democracy in Afghanistan and the inflow of migrants from the country into Europe.

Sofia sets aside around BGN 80-90 M (EUR 40-45 M) annually for the troops, which could be used to step up border protection, Borisov has told an audience of GERB delegates at a party meeting called in to announce the political organization's presidential candidate.

"We have maintained our contingent for a lot of time, soldiers of ours have perished - may God have mercy upon their souls - we have given more than half a billion," Borisov has made clear.

"We have to insist it should be decided on October 03. There is no point in keeping the contingent. We wil submit this to Parliament - to withdraw the contingent," he has added.

Borisov in September said he had urged EU leaders to consider signing a readmission agreement with Afghanistan, calling into question the current situation, in which the country's citizens flee while the international troops defend democracy.

Under the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission led by NATO, Bulgaria had several hundred troops in Afghanistan, which peaked to 602 in 2011 and which currently number 80 people under the Resolute Support Mission.

A conference is due next week, on October 04-05, were Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani will meet EU and NATO leaders to discuss options for financial aid for his country. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also attend the meetings to discuss possibilities of assistance from the international community.

The conference in Brussels comes as an agreement on EUR 4 B in international aid for Afghanistan annually expires at the end of this year.

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