Information presented by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) about 23 migrants who were brought back to Sofia from Munich on a charter flight on February 8 this year sparked a heated debate in Parliament. 

BSP leader Korneliya Ninova asked Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel what arrangements had been made, how many and what kind of people would be returned to Bulgaria under the Dublin Regulation. Gabriel answered that these questions were not the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry, but of the Interior Ministry, as they concerned criminal liability and police cooperation. 

The row was settled after Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said that there had indeed been such a flight with 24 people on board. The 6 criminals returned from Germany are Bulgarians who have served their sentences, the rest are Syrians who have not been convicted.