Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens Wednesday expressed firm support for the lifting of land border controls for Bulgaria. He is visiting at the invitation of Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov, his Ministry said.
As of March 2024, Bulgaria and Romania are joining the border-free Schengen area, starting with the lifting of controls at air and sea borders.
At a working meeting, Stoyanov and Leijtens highly appreciated the cooperation between Bulgaria and Frontex.
The presence of the Agency's officers at the Bulgarian-Turkish border will increase three-fold this year, which will contribute to the implementation of Bulgaria's main priority - ensuring a high level of security at one of the most sensitive and busy external borders of the EU.
Stoyanov briefed Leijtens on the measures taken to organize border control and strengthen the dialogue with Turkiye, due to which migration pressure has dropped considerably since the autumn of 2023. There are also good results in the return of illegal residents - an area where Frontex also provides strong support to the Bulgarian authorities.
Leijtens said Bulgaria can count on Frontex's full support to strengthen border controls, improve return procedures and curb secondary movements within the EU.
He expressed strong support for the lifting of checks at internal land borders within the Schengen area as soon as possible, and underlined the importance of good dialogue with Turkiye for the security of the EU's external borders.
In conclusion, the sides expressed confidence that their fruitful partnership aimed at ensuring a high level of security in the EU will continue.
/NZ/
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