site.btaBavaria Supports Bulgaria's Schengen Membership, Visiting Minister President Soeder Says

May 2 (BTA) - "We support Bulgaria for Schengen," Bavarian Minister President Markus Soeder told a news conference after meeting Prime Minister Boyko Borissov at the Council of Ministers on Thursday. In his opinion, Bulgaria guards Europe's external borders remarkably and has achieved a lot for the European Union.

Soeder is visiting Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian Prime Minister with whom he discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of interior affairs, security, economy and finances, as well as other items on the European agenda.

"Today Bulgaria is showing how strong and stable it is, and how important and significant the efforts are to preserve the security of the European Union's borders," Soeder commented.

The Minister President of Bavaria underscored that Bulgaria has received support from the EU to protect the outer border, but has also invested its own funds and efforts to that end. The country is stable for future investments and is an important factor for the stability in the region, he added.

Borissov said he has informed Soeder how Bulgaria guards Europe's external border. Bulgaria ranks first in Europe in terms of arrested and sentenced migrant traffickers, he pointed out. That means that this country strictly abides by its commitments.

The Prime Minister was adamant that this country is a very good place for investments and is fully prepared for the Schengen area. In his words, the problem now is not at the border with Turkey but at that with Greece, which is part of the Schengen area. 

Earlier in the day, the two leaders signed a Joint Declaration for Cooperation in Security and the Fight against Crime between the Government of Bulgaria and the Free State of Bavaria./IG/BR


/СН/