site.bta National Assembly Chairperson Tsacheva Attends Conference of Speakers of EU Parliaments in Luxembourg

National Assembly Chairperson Tsacheva Attends Conference of Speakers of EU Parliaments
in Luxembourg

Luxembourg/Sofia, May 23 (BTA) - National Assembly Chairperson Tsetska Tsacheva attends a Conference of Speakers of the EU Parliaments in Luxembourg, taking place in May 22-24, the National Assembly said in a press release Monday.

The forum discusses the management of migration flows, the strengthening of the EU, the role of national Parliaments and inter-parliamentary cooperation, as well as ensuring people's security and respect of fundamental freedoms.

Tsacheva read a statement during the first panel of the conference devoted to migration and presented Bulgaria's position vis-a-vis topical aspects of the management of migration flows.

Dwelling on the Schengen Agreement and the external borders of the EU, Tsacheva said that Bulgaria has always highlighted the primary importance of protecting all external borders of the EU. Tsacheva said that Bulgaria will not tire of repeating that EU's external borders do not equal just Schengen and that the protective measures should not only target the countries which are under a strong migration pressure at the moment but all countries who are part of EU's external border and could experience such pressure.

Tsacheva said further that the management of migration flows is connected to the security of the borders which means that the role and capacity of Frontex should increase and that new technologies for border control should be used. The Chairperson of the Bulgarian Parliament said that what this means is that countries such as Bulgaria who have fulfilled all technical requirements for accession to the Schengen Area should join it, all the more so that Bulgaria is an external border of the EU and is located at a strategic location from the point of view of the movement of the migration flows.

Dwelling on the reform of the Dublin Regulation, Tsacheva said that Bulgaria welcomes the reform and values highly the fundamental importance of the solidarity among the EU member states for reforming the Dublin rules in respect of asylum. Tsacheva said that Bulgaria had expected a deeper reform of the Dublin system to ensure flexibility in respect of the main criterion in determining the responsible member state so that the migration pressure does not fall only on the frontline countries.

Commenting the EU-Turkey agreement, Tsacheva said that it is an important step in finding a lasting solution and that the strengthening of the dialogue between the EU and Ankara is of key importance. She recalled that at the start of May Bulgaria became the first EU member state to sign a bilateral memorandum implementing the readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey.

In conclusion Tsacheva said that one thing should be clear in respect of migration: the balance between security and protection of human rights does not have and may not have an alternative.