During a parliamentary question and answer session on Wednesday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated that the closing of borders is necessary in order to halt the refugee influx.

Borisov added that the Bulgarian government has always maintained a firm stance on the refugee crisis.

The Bulgarian prime minister identified the Dublin regulation as not functioning in practice, which necessitated the implementation of refugee quotas and immediate closing of borders.

He called for immediately halting the influx of refugees as had been done by the US, daily Dnevnik quotes him as saying.

Borisov highlighted that until the present crisis is not solved, new refugees should not be admitted.

According to him, those who have already entered the EU will be resettled, integrated and provided with work, education and social care.

He was firm that only those refugees fleeing war should be admitted, while all others should be returned to their respective countries.

The prime minister pointed that at present the migrants detained at Bulgarian borders were mainly of Afghan origin.

In his words, Bulgaria backed the quotas but implementing them was difficult as the movement of migrants within the EU was difficult to monitor.

He said that there were many cases of migrants repeatedly escaping from Bulgarian refugee centres.

Borisov noted that European states remained divided over the issue of migrants and recent events have shown that their integration will be difficult.