site.btaPresident Radev Welcomes Austrian Chancellor Nehammer at Plovdiv Airport

President Rumen Radev welcomed Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who landed at Plovdiv Airport on Monday. Nehammer is visiting Bulgaria at Radev's invitation.

Radev and Nehammer inspected the Bulgarian-Turkish border from a helicopter, after which they landed in Elhovo (Southeast Bulgaria), to visit the Border Police Regional Directorate, which houses the Regional Coordination Centre is located. The Centre is part of the Integrated Monitoring System of the Bulgarian-Turkish border. 

On the Austrian delegation is Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner.  On the Bulgarian delegation for the visit to the Bulgarian-Turkish border will be caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, and the Chief of Defence, Admiral Emil Eftimov. 

Radev and Nehammer will have a working meeting, followed by a joint news briefing, scheduled to take place in early afternoon. 

 The Austrian Chancellor’s visit will be focused on Bulgarian border security and countering the migration pressure, as well as the application of EU law regarding the Schengen area.

Austria opposes Bulgaria's Schengen accession. In December of last year, the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council did not admit Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area because Austria opposed the two countries' accession and the Netherlands opposed Bulgaria's.

The Austrian Federal Chancellor is also scheduled to meet with caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev.