The Spanish Government will support in any way it can Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area and Presidency of EU Council
06 November 2017 News
"The Spanish government will support in any way it can Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, now that your country has fulfilled all requirements as well as its Presidency of the EU Council,” Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso María Dastis Quecedo told his Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zaharieva in Madrid.
The Deputy Prime Minister for Justice Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs Zaharieva is on a two-day working visit to the Kingdom of Spain. This has been the first visit of a Bulgarian Foreign Minister to Madrid for 12 years.
Zaharieva and Dastis concluded that the bilateral relations are excellent.
“We have always received full support from Spain, the Ministries of the Interior and Justice work very well together, Bulgaria has seen considerable Spanish investment and the tourist exchange is increasing. Close to 300,000 Bulgarians live and work in Spain and are well-integrated into the Spanish society,” Zaharieva noted.
Zaharieva recalled that Bulgaria was among the first countries to express support for the territorial integrity and constitutional order in Spain after the commencement of the Catalonia crisis. “We are convinced that the decision you have taken for the scheduling of early local elections the soonest possible will restore faster the normal rhythm of life in the region. For us, rule of law is a topmost value in the EU. We believe in Spanish justice,” Zaharieva said.
“Thank you for the support given by Bulgaria. We will try to keep the region calm and to continue offering all administrative services to the population as well as the preparation for the elections. The regional police with the new governance guarantee successfully public order. Over 2,000 companies have withdrawn from Catalonia and unemployment in the region increased,” Dastis said.
The top diplomats of Bulgaria and Spain also discussed one of the key foreign policy priorities of the Bulgarian government: the European prospects of the Western Balkans. “The integration of the Western Balkans has no alternative. They should be given political support and clear perspective, particularly the young people. These are young countries in terms of population. They have high unemployment and are prone to instability and hybrid propaganda,” Zaharieva noted.
The sides also discussed the EU agenda in the context of the Bulgarian Presidency including the security and defence policy, the reform in the asylum policy, job creation, growth and innovations, support for the cohesion policy and Brexit. The two countries’ top diplomats found that they concur on most priorities.
Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva also met with Maria Soraya Rodriguez Ramos who chairs the Spanish parliamentary committee on EU issues.
“We are strategic partners and are grateful for the support that we have always had from the Kingdom of Spain. At the EU we have many challenges: after Brexit everyone have become aware that the processes are not irreversible and that we should withstand democracy on a daily basis. However, the Bulgarian and Spanish peoples are among the most pro-European ones. We support all integration processes, the continuation of the cohesion policy and the new security and asylum policies,” Minister Zaharieva noted.
The migratory pressures, Brexit, the debates on the EU future - themes that will be among the key concerns during the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council, were discussed during the conversation.
Maria Soraya Rodriguez Ramos noted that differentiation should be made between the people running from armed conflicts and economic migrants. She said that Spain has been financing educational programmes in several African countries aimed to show the teenagers the cruel reality and the life of migrants. Unfortunately, however, the young people in Africa are under family pressure to emigrate to Europe because their relatives would rely on possible support they would receive from them.
“It is not possible to accept all the young people that wish to come here. The illegal migration is the greatest challenge for the EU. During the Presidency we will rely on your support on this issue as well,” Minister Zaharieva said. The people from the EU associate the refugees with terrorism. They do not make a difference between refugees and economic migrants. Bulgaria effectively guards the EU external border and I am thankful to you for supporting our accession to the Schengen Area.”
“Spain supports Bulgaria in all initiatives, particularly, your accession to Schengen. I sincerely thank you for Bulgaria’s support for Spain even now in this tough political situation for us. Many Spanish people are convinced that, together, we will move forward,” Maria Soraya Rodriguez Ramos said.
“Our position is clear: we are behind the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Spain. I believe in the Spanish justice and democracy. We hail the convening of democratic elections in Catalonia,” Zaharieva stressed again.
The Bulgarian Foreign Minister also had talks with Justice Minister Rafael Catala with whom she worked together in 2016 on the regulation regarding the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office and on the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union's financial interests by means of criminal law. The two also discussed the progress of judicial reform in Bulgaria and the process of building the European Public Prosecutor's Office. They expressed support for the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron to allow the European Public Prosecutor's Office to prosecute major cases of international terrorism and not only cross-border financial crimes. They agreed that what is important now is to build the Office as an institution. Bulgaria was among the initiators for its establishment.
More photos
