Ekaterina Zaharieva Discusses Migration Issues with International Organisation for Migration Deputy Director General
25 January 2018 News
Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva today received the Deputy Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Laura Thompson.
“Unless we have a successful policy of return to countries of origin, we will never cope with illegal migration. We thus risk the lives of the illicitly trafficked people, as well as Europe’s security,” Minister Zaharieva said. She stressed Bulgaria’s readiness to seek consensus among EU Member States regarding the negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration. “I always tell my colleagues that we must leave 2015 behind us. That was a crisis situation, and we were not prepared,” the chief Bulgarian diplomat emphasised. Zaharieva added that the issue of combating illegal migration should be considered in perspective, and she argued for the need to set up instruments to be used in crises of such nature.
“Yesterday, during my exchange of views with the Development Committee of the European Parliament, I stressed the need of more effective instruments and optimising the costs of managing migration processes. We must work harder on crisis anticipation and prevention,” Minister Zaharieva said. She added that for Bulgaria, as an EU external border, migration tops the Government’s agenda. “I believe that the Bulgarian Presidency is in a position to achieve consensus because, an external border of the Union as it is, Bulgaria has a balanced position on the subject,” she pointed out.
For her part, Laura Thompson agreed that this is the right time to draw up and adopt the Global Compact: Europe realises the need of more structured action because governments are unable to cope with this challenge on their own.
At their meeting, Minister Zaharieva and Deputy Director General Thompson also considered opportunities for active involvement of the private sector in the search for sustainable solutions to address the consequences of migration processes.
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