September 22 (SeeNews) - International terrorism and the refugees influx have emerged as the biggest cause of concern for Bulgarians, replacing corruption and the country's slow economic progress, a recent public opinion research quoted by local media showed.
A poll conducted by polling agency Alpha Research among 1,026 respondents showed that 64% see international terrorism as the biggest threat to the country's security, while 61% worry most about the refugee influx, Dnevnik daily reported on Wednesday. The poll was conducted between September 9 and 15.
Almost half of the poll respondents said they are not happy with how the government tackles refugee issues and believe it should show more firmness, whereas one-fifth said they support the proposed quota for the relocation of migrants to Bulgaria and their integration.
Other major problems identified by the poll respondents was Bulgaria's demographic collapse due to low birth rate and a high emigration rate, and international organised crime.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 298,474 refugees have entered the European Union since January, sharply down from 469,869 arrivals recorded a year ago, as they reach Europe by land through Turkey and by sea through Greece and Italy.
Bulgaria shares a 259 km border with Turkey and 493 km with Greece.
Earlier this month, the EU announced it will provide up to 108 million euro in emergency support to Bulgaria to help the country improve border management and tackle migration inflow.
The EU has already made available to Bulgaria around 12 million euro in emergency funding, backing the country's efforts to provide accommodation, food and medical supplies to migrants and border security equipment.
A total of 12,164 foreign nationals have been registered with Bulgaria's state agency for refugees in the first eight months of the year, the agency said last week. In Bulgaria there are six accommodation camps and three detention centres with a total capacity of 5,190 places. By mid-September 93% of them were full, according to the data of the agency.
The refugee crisis in Southeast Europe escalated in March when Slovenia sealed its borders to migrants. The move triggered a domino effect further south along the so called Balkan migrant route with Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia following suit, and put Bulgaria under increased pressure from illegal migrants.