| Summary: | The problem: While the refugee crisis of 2015/2016 presented a serious challenge for the European Union and some of EU-member states in particular, Bulgaria somehow remained almost intact by the main refugee flow. That is why the low levels of illegal migration towards Bulgaria, especially in comparison to other countries, are in contradiction with Bulgarian society’s predominantly negative response towards refugees (as evidenced by a number of public opinion polling surveys and protests against refugee centers and resettlement of migrants).
Main thesis: This article is an attempt at reconsidering the dimensions of the refugee problem in Bulgaria and the image of migrants as a real or socially-constructed threat. The author seeks an answer to the question of whether the disproportionally strong negative reaction towards refugees could be explained by their securitisation – a process in which regular political issues are transformed into matters of security and existential threat.
Method: In order to determine whether the refugee problem is securitised in the Bulgarian context, the author has used the analytical framework developed by Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde. Within this framework the four elements of securitisation are studied in the context of the migration crisis and the Bulgarian society. These elements are: existential threat, the referent object (object or ideal threatened by the existential threat), securitising actor: an entity that makes the securitising move/statement, and the audience.
Conclusions: The analysis gives us grounds to assert that considering the specifics of the Bulgarian society, the refugee problem is securitised and constructed as an existential threat.
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