Bulgaria has made progress in dealing with asylum seekers, Malmström says
Bulgaria has made progress in improving living conditions for refugees and more effort is needed to improve the situation of the most vulnerable groups and speed procedures for granting refugee status.
This was the message from European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström during a visit to Bulgaria to take part in discussions on the future of a common European asylum system and to inspect conditions in refugee camps in Bulgaria.
On March 24, the first day of her two-day visit, Malmström met President Rossen Plevneliev and held talks with Plamen Oresharski, occupant of the prime minister’s chair in the Bulgarian Socialist Party cabinet, and interior minister and deputy prime minister Tsvetlin Yovchev.
The European Commission (EC) could assist Bulgaria with expertise and money in drafting an integration strategy and a plan for refugee inclusion, it emerged after Malmström’s talks with Oresharski.
Malmström said that the EC was aware that Bulgaria was faced with an unprecedented situation as it had not been prepared to deal with the influx of migrants, of the large pressure on the country’s asylum system, noting progress that has been made in order to better living conditions for refugees. Malmström urged more efforts to improve the situation with the most vulnerable groups and speed procedures.
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(Photos: EC Audiovisual Service)
