Ivan Ivanov, the Chairman of the State Agency for Refugees under the Council of Ministers (SAR) met with Dimitrios Pagidas, the EUAA Liaison Officer for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Romania, to discuss Bulgaria’s challenges in the implementation of the pact.
The chairman emphasised the need to adopt a new law governing international protection, the need for interpreters in the SAR’s transit center located in the village of Pastrogor, as well as some challenges related to the designation of legal representatives for unaccompanied minors.
The chairman reiterated that the national plan for the implementation of the pact provided the building of two new closed-type centers to increase its reception capacity by up to 800 places. In addition, with the refurbishment of the existing SAR reception centers, the capacity would increase by 2,300 persons in a context where the current capacity of 1,650 persons appears extremely insufficient in the event of a possible migration pressure.
The chairman informed that the new asylum border procedure is currently conducted in the transit center in the village of Pastrogor but, after the refurbishment of the largest SAR’s reception center in Harmanli, one of its buildings will cater for the new border procedure.
The SAR under the Council of Ministers developed, in close cooperation with the EUAA, a roadmap for the implementation of the Reception Conditions Directive and begun to implement the Pact’s requirements for the procedures for granting international protection and the management of asylum and migration.
- State Agency for Refugees at the Council of Ministers | Държавната агенция за бежанците при Министерския съвет (9 July, 2026), Председателят на ДАБ при МС Иван Иванов разговаря с Димитриос Пагидас от EUAA относно изпълнението на Пакта за миграцията и убежището [The Chairman of the SAR at the Council of Ministers Ivan Ivanov talks with Dimitrios Pagidas from the EUAA about the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum],