site.btaUPDATED PM Donev: Schengen Accession Remains Key Priority for Bulgaria

After meeting with visiting Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Galab Donev said Schengen accession remains a key priority for Bulgaria. "Hopefully, your visit today will contribute to a positive development of this priority for Bulgaria." The two officials discussed bilateral cooperation and other matters of shared interest.

Galab Donev said: "This will give an important impetus to relations between Bulgaria, Austria and the whole EU. We believe it is in our shared interest to solve the problems arising from the increase in migrant pressure on the EU, as well as to work towards enhancing confidence and security in the Schengen area. Bulgaria's accession to Schengen will ensure stronger economic cooperation, as well as better protection of the external borders. This is in the interest of Bulgaria, of Austria and of all member states."

"We welcome the coordination of the action plan which was discussed by the two countries' experts in the last few days. This action plan will help to prevent illegal migration in the EU. The plan is certain to further strengthen cooperation between Sofia and Vienna in this area, which is important to us," Donev said.

He noted that Bulgaria views Austria as a traditional economic partner and the Austrians as a close and friendly people. "We hope to expand and strengthen our cooperation not just in security and the Schengen area, but also in culture, science, tourism and all other fields of shared interest," the Prime Minister commented.

Karl Nehammer said there is a great problem with illegal migration. "There are problems in the Schengen area and we want to draw attention to this. When it comes to expanding the Schengen area with another external border, these borders must be reliably protected. It is a fact that since 2015, Germany has controlled its borders with Austria. Czechia also controls its borders. For the first time in its history, Czechia has introduced border control with Slovakia. There is border control at Austria's borders with Slovakia and Slovenia, and we are discussing Schengen enlargement," the Austrian Chancellor said.

"In a country like Austria, which is internal to the Schengen area, we have more than 100,000 asylum applications. Of them, 75,000 are first-time applicants. This means that the migrants who have applied for asylum for the first time in Austria have crossed other countries. We have a problem which can only be solved with joint efforts. We are talking about organized crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking. That is why we are having this discussion. Austria has always said that it will never abandon either Bulgaria or Romania on their accession path," he said.

According to the Austrian Chancellor, the protection of the external border should be on the front burner for the entire European Union.

"We are fully aware of the workload of the Bulgarian border services. For Bulgaria, this is extremely difficult and takes a great effort. The [European] Commission should allocate more funds for the protection of the external border," he said.

"We hope to get support from the Commission because this is about solidarity. Protecting the Bulgarian external border also means protecting the Austrian border," Nehammer said after meeting with Prime Minister Galab Donev.