site.btaInterior Minister Buchvarova: Dublin System Reform Should Create Fair Asylum Mechanism

Interior Minister Buchvarova: Dublin System Reform Should Create Fair Asylum Mechanism

Sofia/Luxembourg, October 14 (BTA) - Bulgarian Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova said in Luxembourg that her country would support a reform of the Dublin system of allocation of responsibility for asylum seekers in order to work out a fair mechanism that would not strain the asylum systems of the frontline countries, the Interior Ministry in Sofia reported on Friday. Such a mechanism should take account of the geographical location and economic situation of the EU member states, Buchvarova said, addressing the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council.

She was adamant that the Dublin Regulation must conform to the principles of proportionateness, justice and equality, and to the solidarity clauses of the EU treaties.

The EU interior ministers discussed an expansion of the mandate of the European Asylum Support Office and the establishment of a common procedure for international protection in the EU by promoting convergence of asylum systems and creating uniform rules. The main objective is to curb asylum shopping and limit the secondary movements of migrants through Europe.

During the meeting, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and the interior ministers of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland signed a declaration of partnership between the EU and Belarus in the field of migration and mobility.

Avramopoulos described the agreement as a positive development in the EU's dialogue with Belarus within the Eastern Partnership. Buchvarova said the instrument will allow EU countries like Bulgaria, which have recent experience in matters of migration and mobility, to share their good practices in managing national borders, suppressing illegal migration and human smuggling, and providing asylum. Igor Shunevich, the Internal Affairs Minister of Belarus, said no individual country can tackle migration on its own.