The UK and Germany back Bulgaria’s request for an exemption from the EU's refugee resettlement scheme for 40 000 refugees now in Italy and Greece, according to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

EU leaders decided at a summit on Friday that 40 000 refugees would be relocated from Greece and Italy to other EU Member States over the next two years.

It was decided that there would be no mandatory quotas for the different countries.

Borisov told the Bulgarian National Radio that his call for an exemption had been backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

He argued that Bulgaria’s special statute would be included among the conclusions of the summit.

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister made clear that he had had imposed a condition for backing the voluntary resettlement scheme for the 40 000 Syrian and Eritrean nationals currently staying at Italian and Greek refugee centers to other parts of the EU.

Asked whether Bulgaria was willing to accept asylum seekers from Italy and Germany after July, regardless of the voluntary status of the decision, Borisov declared that the country already hosted a sufficient number of refugees.

Borisov predicted that the first stage of Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area would take place in October, with air and water borders opening first.

He emphasized that the measure would not affect land borders.

Borisov informed that only last week Bulgarian authorities had stopped 3000 migrants heading out of Bulgaria towards other EU countries.

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