NEWS

President Rumen Radev and Austrian Federal Chancellor: Guarding the Union's External Borders Is a Common Commitment of all Member States and is Key to Tackling illegal Migration

Nehammer to visit Bulgaria on 23 January

Guarding the external borders of the European Union is a common commitment of all Member States and is key to tackling illegal migration, was the common position of President Rumen Radev and Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who held talks in Vienna today. The Bulgarian President is the only head of State invited to this year's edition of the traditional New Year's concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.

During the talks, the two highlighted the good cooperation between Bulgaria and Austria and discussed the European policy on migration and asylum ahead of the European Council on 9 and 10 February.

The Bulgarian head of State stressed that the protection of the external European borders required even closer cooperation between European countries, as well as targeted technical and financial support from the EU. Rumen Radev also reminded that Bulgaria had made substantial investments in improving the protection of its borders, which had been confirmed by all EU missions.

Federal Chancellor Nehammer expressed appreciation for the invitation accepted by the Bulgarian head of State to visit Vienna to continue the bilateral dialogue and highlighted Austria's desire to strengthen cooperation with this country in guarding the EU's external borders to restrain illegal migration. According to him, Europe cannot afford tens of thousands of undocumented migrants crossing the territory of EU Member States. The high number of irregular migrants also poses a serious security problem for the entire European Union, which requires greater support for the countries guarding the external borders of the Union and exposed to migration pressures, including Bulgaria.

The Federal Chancellor is due to visit Bulgaria on 23 January to obtain first-hand information about the measures this country has taken to secure the EU's borders. He stressed that Bulgaria had put a lot of effort into strengthening the protection of the external European borders to counter the increased migratory pressure, and this country should also receive more financial support from the EU to improve the border fence as well as to increase the presence of Frontex.

During his visit to Austria, Radev also held talks with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and met Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.