Closure of all EU external borders for migrants: proposes Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has launched an initiative to close all external borders of the European Union for illegal migrants.
“Today we have taken all necessary measures for the reliable protection of the Bulgarian-Turkish border. We propose a compromise and we will stand up for this at the European Council meeting. We are talking about the need to introduce preventive measures, which include, above all, the closure of all EU external borders for migrants, so that Europe does not look like a yard for crossing,” Borisov said.
According to him, anyone wishing to visit the EU should only use official checkpoints where fingerprints and other data are also checked.
“I will insist on the immediate closure of the external borders of the whole European Union,” Borissov said in a surprise visit to parliament, following an opposition call for information on Bulgaria’s position on migration.
He said centres should be set up in Libya and Turkey to deal with migrants before they reached Europe.
Bulgaria, which holds the European Union presidency, hopes that by halting migrant inflows the bloc may also ease the concerns of Central European countries that are opposing calls to accept a quota of migrants who have entered the EU since 2015 in order to share the burden around the bloc.
“Their fear is that there are no guarantees that this process will not continue,” Borissov said.
He said he would hold talks again with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over the issue.
On Thursday, leaders of the Visegrad Four countries Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic said they would skip the smaller summit on Sunday ahead of a full 28-member EU summit next week.
On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel downplayed expectations of a major breakthrough being reached at Sunday’s meeting. Borissov said he did not expect that any documents would be signed.
Source: Eu Scoop, Reuters The Kootneeti Eastern Europe Team
