Sofia, Bulgaria: The Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria for Good Governance – Kalina Konstantinova, recently speaking on the incident where at least five buses left without a single Ukrainian refugee during the process of relocation stated that “Protection is a right, not an obligation”.
“Protection is a right, not an obligation. Therefore, I shall no longer allow any empty bus, not a single empty wagon, to leave. The development of the situation from now on is in the hands of the Ukrainian community in Bulgaria. I am appealing to those of you who do not need shelter to declare it now. It’s the only way we can take care of people in real need right away. For people in real need, we have both bases and food and teams waiting for them”.
Following the above statement, she then added, “To our great disappointment, in return, we have received mass-specific and personal wishes that categorically could not be satisfied. And here we are far from talking about vulnerable people – they are the ones with the least household requirements. That is why our efforts today are focused precisely on them”.
The above-mentioned remarks were made by the Deputy Prime Minister in a video message. The statements given by Konstantinova ignited anger among the Bulgarian population, following which people demanded the resignation of the leader.
Seeing the situation, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov defended the leader and said that it is the time for Ukraine refugees to face reality and no longer receive “luxury treatment”.
“The Bulgarian state cannot support such luxurious accommodation. For 3 months, we have given unprecedented support to some of the best hotels in Bulgaria. Now we are entering in a slightly more normal framework; they are refugees, after all. The Bulgarian state cannot indefinitely support such luxurious accommodations in Bulgaria. So we are entering reality, which is closer to what is expected for refugees”, PM Petkov stated.