site.btaIn Vienna, Borissov Calls for EU-Turkey Migrant Deal to Continue Working

In Vienna, Borissov Calls for EU-Turkey Migrant Deal to Continue Working

Vienna, September 24 (BTA) - After Saturday's meeting on migration of the leaders of countries along the Balkan migrant route, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov stressed it is important to see that the EU-Turkey migrant deal continues working, and to use Turkey's NATO membership as an extra guarantee for stability, the government information service said.

The meeting was held on the initiative of Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern.

Borissov suggested that NATO's Secretary General be invited to the upcoming European Council meeting, the press service said.

The EU should make clear its stance on migrant relocation and the course of action a country should take when migrants do not want to stay in it.

Borissov also asked the EU to make available on Monday the financial aid pledged for technical equipment and improving the living conditions of officers involved in building a border fence and in guarding the border with Turkey.

Earlier in September, the European Commission announced it was providing 108 million euro in border security aid to Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister did not conceal his disappointment at the silence of his counterparts in response to his insistence that the agreement with Turkey should continue working after December because the EU Member States are not prepared to deal with a possible influx of one million migrants who might leave Turkey for Europe. None of the government leaders said what should be done if thousands of migrants flocked to the Bulgarian-Turkish border soon, according to Borissov.

He asked that safe zones be created in third countries, for instance in Libya, and that the US, China and other countries be involved in this process.

BTA's stringer Tzvetana Delibaltova has contributed to this story from Vienna.