site.btaInterior Ministers of Bulgaria, Austria Discuss Illegal Migration, Police Force Cooperation

Illegal migration and cooperation between the police forces of Austria and Bulgaria were the focus of discussion between Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov and his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner in Vienna, the Interior Ministry's press centre said on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by of the Border Police Director Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov. 

Minister Stoyanov presented the current migration situation, underlining that thanks to the reorganization of Border Police and the good cooperation with their Turkish colleagues, a more than two-fold decrease in the number of illegal migrants apprehended at the Bulgarian-Turkish border was reported. Talking about the measures Bulgaria has taken in the fight against migrant smuggling, Stoyanov pointed out that his country has committed serious human, technical and financial resources to guarding the border.

"We received a very high evaluation of the activities of the Ministry of Interior and in particular of the Border Police for the results achieved so far. We continue to work actively to change Austria's position regarding Bulgaria's Schengen membership," Minister Stoyanov said after the meeting, quoted by his ministry’s press centre. He pointed out that the reasons for Austria's "no" so far lie not in the activity of the Bulgarian services, but in the poor functioning of the current Schengen area.

"The Austrian authorities support their claim that the Schengen area is not functioning, in general, with the fact that many countries inside the European Union are tightening controls at their borders. But here it should be made clear that all the countries that are tightening controls are still of the opinion that we should be part of the Schengen area. My delegation and I, on Tuesday and Wednesday, did not hear a single meaningful argument why Bulgaria should not be accepted into Schengen by the end of the year," Stoyanov further said.

He extended an official invitation to Austria's Interior Minister to visit Bulgaria and see for himself all that the country has achieved in securing the EU's external border.