Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has opposed allegations of an influx of Bulgarian Roma to other EU Member States.

In an interview for weekly German magazine Focus, as cited by mediapool.bg, Plevneliev argues that "unfortunately, Bulgaria and Romania are always used as a convenient excuse for the internal problems of our European partners."

Plevneliev claims that the concrete data must be studied first before such accusations are leveled.

"Of the alleged 20 000 Bulgarian and Romanian Roma who moved to France, only 600 were from Bulgaria, and only 80 of them stayed in France illegally," he points out.

Bulgaria's head of state admits that there is a problem with the Roma but notes that the issue must be very clearly defined.

"Bulgaria does not have millions of Roma, their exact number is 300 000. They make up less than 5% of the population," he states.

Commenting on Bulgaria's yet again postponed Schengen bid, he demands a better recognition of the country's efforts to guard the external EU border.

He emphasizes that Bulgaria has invested a total of EUR 100 M in the sphere and its border is secure.

"There are only 200 illegal entries per year on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, while in Italy and Greece the number exceeds 20 000" he adds.