The Interior Ministry cannot answer a simple question – how many foreigners reside in Bulgaria and what the source of their income is in order to do so, stated the Deputy Chairman of ABV Rumen Petkov at a press conference on the problems of security in Bulgaria and anti-terrorism.

“How many foreigners are there who live in hotels, apartments, how much do they pay and where does the money come from,” asked Petkov.

“Apparently, this is an impossible task for the Interior Ministry,” commented Petkov.

“It is certainly a good idea to build such centres near the countries of origin. It is certainly a good idea but it is irrevocably late. Who will return several thousands of people from Central and Western Europe to their country of origin? How do we imagine this happening?”

In Petkov’s opinion, such populist ideas cannot be applied in practice.

“It is obvious that the political leadership of the Interior Ministry does not want or is not capable of articulating these questions, analysing them and presenting them to the government and to Parliament,” explained Petkov.

“Avoiding these questions does not make them less burdensome or unimportant. We should not allow the refugee issue to become subject to political speculation, given the fact that there is an imminent presidential campaign,” added Petkov.