NEWS

Rosen Plevneliev on the migration crisis in Europe: Responsibility and solidarity go hand in hand

It is not possible for a European country to demonstrate irresponsibility and to expect European solidarity. Responsibility and solidarity go hand in hand. Bulgaria has already shown responsibility by strictly following European rules for accepting refugees and now expects European solidarity, declared the Head of State Rosen Plevneliev before students of the Gustav Heinemann School in Berlin, specializing in a course of politics. At their request the Bulgarian President received 11 German schoolchildren, with whom he exchanged views on topics of European concern and current world issues.

Asked by the young people to comment on the reluctance of some European Union member states to accept refugees from the areas of conflict, President Rosen Plevneliev reminded that Bulgaria was the first EU country to strictly apply European rules and to create conditions for the registration and accommodation of asylum-seeking immigrants. For a period of two years Bulgaria significantly improved the conditions for accommodating refugees. The control on the outer EU border was also made stricter, as a result of which the migration pressure on Bulgarian borders with neighbouring countries was considerably less.

Rosen Plevneliev defined the situation in Europe as a bad example of crisis management“.“Europe is now working towards limiting the consequences of the migration pressure but not towards solving the problems that engendered the current situation. An active approach is needed – problems should be solved at once instead of being postponed,” said explicitly the Bulgarian Head of State.

In the words of the President the actions that Bulgaria has taken to tackle the migration crisis were not connected with Schengen area membership. “Schengen is a technical issue. Bulgaria and Romania fully meet all technical requirements and should join. The continuous application of the “yes but…” principle may bring about another crisis in Europe,” warned the President.

The President introduced the young people to the European and the European-Atlantic path of Bulgaria, as well as to his position on several other international issues. “At present Bulgaria contributes to the stability of the entire region, conducting predictable and responsible policy towards the countries in the West Balkans and actively assists them on their path to integration in the European and European-Atlantic structures,” added Mr PLevenliev.

The Gustav Heinemann School in Berlin holds traditional exchange of views meetings with leading national and international politicians. So far, within the framework of the programme, the students have had discussions with the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the Chancellor of Germany (1998-2005) Gerhard Schröder and the former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan.