site.btaAustrian Federal Chancellor Kurz Pays Visit to Sofia

Sofia, March 15 (BTA) - Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is paying a visit to Sofia on Thursday. The guest conferred with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, after which the two officials gave a news conference. Austria is the next country in 2018 after Bulgaria to hold the rotating EU Presidency.

At the news conference Borissov said that in respect of the main topics, 2018 should be considered as a Bulgarian-Austrian EU Presidency because topics such as the Western Balkans, the protection of the EU external borders, the decisions concerning the Dublin regulation, the cohesion policy, and other matters, cannot be started and finished in the span of six months.

Borissov thanked Kurz for Austria's support, in particular the country's desire to render help in the protection of the external borders of the EU.

The Prime Minister said that concerning the European transport corridors 4, 6, 8 and 10 he had Kurz's "total understanding". In Borissov's words, by mid-May when the leaders of the countries in the Western Balkans are due to meet in Bulgaria, "the hybrid financing should be prepared so that this project becomes irreversible during the Bulgarian and the Austrian Presidencies of the EU Council".

Kurz said that Bulgaria and Austria work together for the security of the external borders and tackling illegal migration. He thanked for the perseverance in the work for containing the migrant wave.

Kurz said that the Western Balkans should be supported on their path to European integration.

The Austrian Chancellor said he was glad that his country has an opportunity to support Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area. He also thanked for the "wonderful political and economic cooperation in the bilateral relations". Kurz said that Austria is one of the biggest investors in Bulgaria, noting that 350 Austrian companies operate in Bulgaria.

Taking questions from journalists, Kurz said that Bulgaria and Austria share the view that the Western Balkans should be attracted to the EU as quickly as possible, noting that these countries should meet certain criteria first, and some states currently do not.

Borissov said that in order for the region to receive a EU perspective, work is being done on two plains: a political plain in the form of closing the negotiation chapters, which will require one, two, three and more years for some countries; and a second plain in the form of infrastructure projects, which will help people and business and will keep young people in their homecountries. The Bulgarian PM expressed the hope that this topic will be taken up and further developed by the Austrian EU Presidency.

Asked about Turkey, Kurz said there is no doubt that the cooperation with this country is necessary. In his words, dialogue is needed between Europe and Turkey and they should cooperate in the fight against illegal migration and terrorism, but there are also certain matters concerning Turkey's entry in the EU. It is still too early for Turkey to join the Union, he noted.

Borissov recalled the historical relations between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire and warned of the worsening relations on a world scale, noting that the world is heading towards a conflict and that the relations between state leaders are becoming ever worse. He spoke of two options for exiting the crisis: either diplomacy, peace tactics and mutually favourable proposals or military actions. The Bulgarian Prime Minister recalled that Austria, the Netherlands and Germany are far away from the conflict, and that the Balkan countries have experienced many times what it means to have a conflict. "This is why I organize these meetings, so that the agreement with Turkey can continue to work," Borissov told journalists.

On the topic of the protection of the EU external borders, Kurz noted Bulgaria's good work with Turkey in respect of the cooperation in stopping the illegal migration from Turkey to Bulgaria, noting that it is "very sensible" to cooperate with Turkey on those matters. Kurz thanked for Bulgaria's efforts to strengthen the external borders. "The Prime Minister and Bulgaria invested in the protection of the borders before the others and more than the others in Europe," the guest said. He noted that the illegal migrants in Central Europe are "too many" and that Europe has an interest to strengthen its external borders "so that in Europe we can move as is one of our values". "We should know in the EU that Europe without internal borders can work only if the external borders are strengthened, the Schengen Area can work well only provided that the external borders are protected," Kurz said.

Commenting on the EU multiannual financial framework, Kurz said that the talks are in an initial stage. He said that the EC is expected to come up with a proposal in early May, noting that the preparation of the framework will probably take a year in the making.