Bulgaria faces no direct threat from Middle East conflict, officials say

There is no direct threat to Bulgaria, although potential asymmetric risks cannot be ruled out, lawmakers said after a meeting of the Security Council under the Council of Ministers to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

Natalia Kiselova, head of the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left parliamentary group, told reporters that the country was not facing an immediate danger. 'By asymmetric threats, we mean the use of otherwise routine activities to disrupt various civilian or state infrastructures,' she said, emphasising that the risks discussed were potential rather than concrete or immediate threats.

Ivaylo Mirchev, co-leader of the Yes, Bulgaria party and a lawmaker from the PP-DB coalition, said that the government should nevertheless prepare for the possibility of new migrant flows linked to the conflict in the Middle East. However, he added that there were currently no indications of such movements. He also said that the government should consider economic measures in the event of a rise in oil prices. 'We need to be ready with such measures even if we do not know how long the conflict will last,' he said.

Toshko Yordanov, head of the parliamentary group of the There Is Such a People party, said that during the meeting, lawmakers had requested additional information, but he accused the caretaker government of not being fully transparent with citizens or parliament. Yordanov also voiced concern about the presence of US aircraft at Sofia Airport, saying that the conflict in the Middle East posed certain risks to Bulgaria. However, he expressed hope that any impact would be limited to the economic sphere.

'Bulgaria is not under direct threat of military action. It is not a party to the conflict and is not taking part in the operations. As the NATO Secretary General has said, neither is the Alliance,’ said acting Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov at a briefing. ‘The situation has not yet reached a critical point, but if it does, we are prepared to defend ourselves,’ he added, warning against exploiting public panic for political purposes.

Acting Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said that measures had been taken to strengthen the country’s air defence, with the Defence Staff activating additional forces and resources. He explained that NATO’s missile and air defence would be placed on heightened readiness and that Bulgaria would request additional reinforcements if the Alliance’s high command determined that further guarantees were needed.

Editor: Diana Tsankova