Bulgaria's accession to Schengen is a national priority and as a responsible and reliable member state of the European Union (EU) this country is making great efforts to secure the external European borders. This is what President Rumen Radev said at a meeting with the Chairman of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka, who is on an official visit to Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian Head of State pointed out that Bulgaria had invested a lot of resources from its national budget to curb migration pressures and had met all the technical criteria for Schengen membership as early as in 2011. In the President's words, Bulgaria's accession to Schengen will have a positive effect not only for the citizens of this country, but also for the business sector, including the large number of Austrian companies operating here.
Rumen Radev and Wolfgang Sobotka were unanimous that more active solidarity at European level and joint efforts of all member states are needed to protect the EU's external borders. The President expressed his appreciation for Austria's support for the European Commission to allocate more funds for the strengthening of the Bulgarian-Turkish border. Joint efforts are also needed to combat the financial networks and centres located in a number of European countries, which not only secure illegal migration but also fuel corruption, Rumen Radev further said, introducing Wolfgang Sobotka to a Bulgarian project for a task force with the participation of all EU countries to coordinate their actions to stop the financial means for human trafficking.
Wolfgang Sobotka expressed the concern of the Austrian society over the increased illegal trafficking of people to the EU, which raises security issues. He also stressed that Austria highly appreciates Bulgaria's efforts to secure the EU's external borders, which is a common task for all member states. Austria has not raised the issue of the work of the Bulgarian security services as a condition for Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, it also became clear at the meeting.
During the talks Rumen Radev and Wolfgang Sobotka noted the good economic ties between Bulgaria and Austria, which is the second largest real investor in the Bulgarian economy. They also discussed the European integration of the Western Balkans.