site.btaAustrian National Council President Sobotka to Pay Official Visit to Bulgaria

Wolfgang Sobotka, President of the Austrian National Council, the lower house of the Austrian parliament, will pay an official visit to Bulgaria on October 10 at the invitation of Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Rosen Zhelyazkov. 
 
The two speakers will visit a stretch of Bulgaria’s land border to inspect the fence and the surveillance systems. They will get familiarized with the activities of the border police, border controls and the measures to counter illegal migration in line with the requirements implemented by Schengen countries. 

The two will visit the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing to see how documents, passengers and cars are processed.  

At an official ceremony at 3.45 pm Sobotka will lay a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Sofia. 

Later the Austrian National Council President will meet with Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Rosen Zhelyazkov and MPs in Parliament.  
The two Speakers will make a joint statement to the media afterwards. 

Sobotka is scheduled to meet with President Rumen Radev, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel. 
 
In an interview for the Austrian newspaper Der Standard of October 4 Prime Minister Denkov said that Bulgaria controls its borders very actively. “In 2023 alone we have prevented 150,000 attempts at illegal entry into Bulgaria.“ Denkov recalled that less than 2% of migrants arrive along the so-called Eastern route via Bulgaria and Romania.