site.btaInterior Minister Buchvarova: Burden of Strong Migration Pressure Should Not Fall on Frontline States Only

Interior Minister Buchvarova: Burden of Strong Migration Pressure Should Not Fall on Frontline States Only

Bratislava, July 8 (BTA) - The Ministers of Interior of the 28 EU Member States debated on the future of the Common European Asylum System at an informal meeting here on Thursday. Addressing the participants, Bulgarian Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova said, as quoted by her ministry, that the legislative proposals in this sphere should be reviewed simultaneously and in their integrity.

In her words, it is important to hold a political debate on the Dublin Regulation so as to achieve a lasting and working solution that would guarantee a just distribution of responsibilities between the Member States regarding the acceptance of refugees. In case of strong migration pressure, the burden should not fall on the frontline countries only, Buchvarova underscored.

With respect to the policy of solidarity, the Bulgarian Interior Minister supported the establishment of a unified set of responsibilities between the Member States, and insisted on additional attention to the situation along the EU's external borders.

"We consider as a key priority of the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency the active cooperation with the neighbouring third countries," Buchvarova noted. This is crucial for the additional strengthening of the external borders, the development of the early warning mechanism, and the improvement of returns of migrants, she added.

Bulgaria treats positively the discussion on the proposal for a EU Electronic System for Travel Authorization. "We think that prior to the elaboration of a legislative proposal, it is good to conduct a research which would answer all open questions on the System's parameters and how these refer to the Smart Borders Package," Buchvarova said.

She brought the EU Council's attention to a topic important to Bulgaria: the status of the internal borders for which a decision on the lifting of the border control has not been taken yet. In Buchvarova's words, a clear political agreement on the status of these borders is needed so as to avoid the legal insecurity and the scattering of resources, caused by the constant need of introducing measures on the internal borders that are similar to those on the external borders.