Bulgaria’s national intelligence boss says that it is “very possible” that there are international terrorist sleeper cells in the country.

Bulgarian news agency BTA reported that National Intelligence Service head Kircho Kirov told the South-Eastern Europe Security Challenges forum in Sofia that under certain conditions, such as a crisis, these cells could be activated

Poverty, social injustice and inter-cultural intolerance were seen as causes for terrorist and extremist threats, according to Kirov.

The involvement of Bulgaria and other South East European countries in anti-terrorist coalitions, and their deployment of troops in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, could be a pre-condition for an possible attack, Kirov said.

Radical Islamic structures exist on the Balkans. The spreading of radical Islamic ideas in the SEE region in recent years had created a potential terrorist threat to the stability and safety of the region, he said.

A number of NGOs were working secretly to spread radical Islamic ideas and structures, under the cover of humanitarian activities, Kirov said.