site.btaBavarian Interior Minister: Germany Doesn't Aim to Turn Bulgaria and Macedonia into Waiting Room for Refugees

Bavarian Interior Minister: Germany Doesn't Aim to Turn Bulgaria and Macedonia into Waiting Room for Refugees

Sofia, January 22 (BTA) - Bavarian Interior, Building and Transport Minister Joachim Herrmann said that neither Bavaria nor Germany aimed to turn Bulgaria and Macedonia into a waiting room for refugees. He was in Sofia on a two-day visit, which included participation in an international ministerial conference on fighting terrorism in the Danube Region on Friday.

Herrmann said Germany was seeking to achieve by all means a sizable lasting reduction in the number of refugee arrivals because it has no capacity to take in another one million migrants in 2016. He added that to this end the German federal government was holding talks with the Turkish government on Friday, relying on Turkey to stem the migrant flow in its territory, that is, to stop refugees from leaving Turkey.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to seek further cooperation with Ankara during Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's visit on Friday.

At the same time, Germany should state firmly and clearly that it cannot receive as many refugees as in 2015, Herrmann said, adding that his country wants this message to reach the refugees' home countries. It is common knowledge that refugees do not want to stay in Bulgaria or Macedonia and that Germany is the destination for almost all of them, he said.

Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova said that joining the Schengen area remains an issue for Bulgaria. However, the government is aware of the serious situation in Europe and believes that now it is more important to meet its commitments than to insist on guarantees for broader rights for Bulgarian citizens. "That is why we will not take the topic off the agenda but will act according to the situation and the common EU decision," said Buchvarova. She added that Bulgaria meets the Schengen standards for border protection. According to a legal opinion announced at the latest meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, the external borders of Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Cyprus are external Schengen borders.

The forum in Sofia was attended by Dragan Mektic, Security Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who said that his country supports all forms of cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

The countries of the Danube Region will adopt a joint declaration on the fight against terrorism, it was announced on Friday. The document covers terrorism prevention, border security, the protection of critical infrastructure, and enhanced information exchange among the competent authorities.

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Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Herrmann discussed ways to cope with the migrant crisis in the EU and security threats. They concurred that Europe should launch a concerted effort to deal with migrant pressure.

The two expressed satisfaction with the deepening of security cooperation between Bulgaria and Bavaria after a Declaration on Police Cooperation was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Roumyana Buchvarova and Herrmann on Thursday. It is designed to step up professional police cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in curbing illegal migration.

Borissov stressed that closer police contacts are in the mutual interest of Bulgaria and Bavaria. He recalled that Bavaria is the first German federal state with which Bulgaria has started cooperation in home affairs.