Bulgaria presses plea for EU backing for stopping migrants being redirected to Bulgarian borders
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has put to European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini his country’s plea that a forthcoming EU-Turkey deal on controlling migration should include a provision against migrants barred from reaching Greece being redirected to Bulgaria’s land and sea borders.
The appeal, discussed in talks between Mitov and Mogherini in Brussels on March 14 2016 when he was attending a scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers, was put in a March 11 letter from Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov to European Council President Donald Tusk.
However, it remains unclear whether Bulgaria’s plea will be included in a final form of the agreement between the EU and Ankara.
A Bulgarian Foreign Ministry statement on the Mitov-Mogherini talks said that they discussed the migration crisis and agreed on the need for joint efforts to tackle the challenges arising from it.
Part of these efforts should include support from the EU for “frontline states” such as Bulgaria and the taking of emergency measures to prevent the shifting of migration flows, Bulgaria insists.
For the full story, please click here.
(Photo of Mitov and Mogherini: mfa.bg)
