Security risks
There is a security risk during any trip. Travellers decide whether to undertake a trip regardless of the potential risk. We recommend that you become familiar with the information for travellers which you can find in the media and other reliable sources as regards risks that could put your journey under threat. During your stay in the foreign state keep following the situation.
Terrorism threat
The attacks in London on 7 July 2005 that clearly showed that deadly terrorist attacks could were possible in the European states themselves. Such a potential threat exists mainly for the larger cities and industrial hubs but also for tourist regions. Terrorist attacks can target transport locations (underground, trains, airports and sea ports), overcrowded places (shopping centres, museums, entertainment places, cultural and sports events), symbolic landmarks, tourist destinations and holiday locations.
When there are potential security risks in a particular geographical place, the warning published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for citizens to refrain from travelling is based on the existing information about the specific threat.
Taking into account the circumstances every passenger decides whether to embark on the respective journey.
General recommendations for travellers to the Middle East and the Arab countries
In Iraq there are still terrorist attacks, assaults and robberies. There are a lot of cases of kidnappings of foreigners.
The security situation in Syria remains complicated. On 20.01.2012 the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published on its website an official warning for the Bulgarian citizens residing in Syria to leave the country as soon as possible in view of the increasingly destabilized situation and the higher security threat.
Since February 2011 the situation in Yemen has been deteriorating as a result of the general civil unrest. The capital city of Sana and the other big cities saw the demonstrations expanding into armed conflicts between the security forces and the republican guard forces, on the one hand, and separated military groupings, paramilitary tribal groups and militias of opposition parties and political movements, on the other. The country is undergoing severe economic collapse, electricity is supplied for 3-4 hours a day, there is acute deficit of petrol, diesel and water for household need, etc. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends to the Bulgarian citizens in Yemen that they leave the country until it stabilizes.
Generally for the rest of the countries in the region it is recommendable that before a trip people search for the most accurate information in advance and during the stay they constantly follow the development of the situation there. People are advised to avoid overcrowded places and private trips (with the exception of organized tourist trips).