site.btaBulgaria, Serbia and Romania Ready to Close Borders If Germany, Austria Do So to Stop Refugees

PM Borissov: Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania Ready to Close Borders If Germany, Austria Do So to Stop Refugees Coming in

Sofia, October 24 (BTA) - Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania are ready to close their borders if Germany and Austria close theirs to stop refugees coming in, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said on Saturday, emerging from a nearly two-hour talks with the Prime Ministers of Romania and Serbia, Victor Ponta and Aleksandar Vucic, at the Boyana Residence. The migration crisis in Europe and its impact on the Balkan countries, and promotion of infrastructure and energy cooperation topped the agenda of the talks.

"The three countries, we are standing ready, if Germany and Austria close their borders, not to allow our countries to become buffer zones between Turkey and the fences that have been erected. We will be ready to close borders. We will not expose our peoples to the crushing pressure of the millions that could come," Borissov said, also noting that the busy building of fences in Europe is a cause of concern.

"We pledge our full European solidarity and for as long as it exists everywhere, we will carry out our obligations, but let it be understood that we are not blind and if the experiment of closing borders is opted for, so that the refugees remain here, we will not agree," the Bulgarian PM said. In his words, the matter was not one of money, "We fulfil all conditions, we protect the Schengen Area borders as required," he said.

According to Borissov the problem - and also the fear - is the absence of an ultimate strategic goal: how long will the process continue, where to accommodate these refugees, how jobs will be found for them in the years to come, how they will be integrated in the social systems. "A war is raging in Syria, we understand this, but we are also worried with the huge numbers of Afghani refugees, as well as people from Iraq and Iran, who are difficult to integrate," Borissov said. "We have no right to expose our peoples to this pressure and to let whole systems crash down," he said.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that this is the common position of the three countries. In his words, the three countries fulfil their obligations and show solidarity with the entire Europe; however, the responsibility cannot rest with certain countries only. According to Ponta, if there are countries that close their borders and build fences, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia too have the right to promptly protect themselves, "but this is not a good solution". The good solution is the common action of whole Europe, he said.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that his country has been against fences and walls from the very beginning. He said his country will always accept refugees but noted that it is not realistic to believe that the three countries are the place where two or three million refugees could stay. This is why the three agreed that they cannot accept such a scenario, Vucic said.

Responding to a question, Vucic said that if the migrants in Central Europe are returned in Serbia in pursuance of the readmission agreements, then Serbia will have to return them to Bulgaria, who, however, does not have a readmission agreement with Turkey, which proves that these are unrealistic solutions.

Ponta asked at the meeting what will be done with the people who do not want to stay in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, if the quota principle is applied. /ZH//