Kristian Vigenin: There is an urgent need of development of a common EU strategy on the issues of refugees and illegal immigration
22 October 2013 News
Minister of Foreign Affairs Kristian Vigenin participated today in the General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, dealing with the preparation of the European Council meeting on 24-25 October 2013. During the discussions, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the European Ministers from the Member States examined the draft conclusions for the European Council, which is due to focus on topics related to the completion of the digital single market, fostering innovation, economic and social policy, development of the Economic and monetary union, as well as current topics on the EU agenda such as the Eastern Partnership and the problems associated with migration and refugees.
In his statement, Minister Vigenin said that the investments in innovation are the basis for increasing the productivity and competitiveness of the European economies. He highlighted the need to strengthen the European research area, to enhance the scientific collaboration and to provide an open access to the research infrastructure. The Minister put special focus on the problems of youth unemployment. In this regard, Kristian Vigenin welcomed the progress on the development of a national plan to implement the youth employment initiative in view of the approaching work on it after 1 January 2014. On the Eastern Partnership topic, Minister Vigenin highlighted the need for the European Council to send a strong political message for further development of the relations with the Eastern partners.
The focus of the statement of the Bulgarian foreign minister was put on the acute problems related to the Syrian crisis and the resulting challenges such as the growing number of refugees and the illegal immigration not only in the Mediterranean region, but also along the border with Turkey. By supporting our position with the fact that Bulgaria is among the states that take the particularly high financial and logistical burden of this development, Minister Vigenin stressed on the need of urgent assistance to the countries along the southern border of the European Union, as well as launching a broad discussion and developing a common EU strategy on these issues as soon as possible.
Among the topics of the General Affairs Council was the adoption of conclusions on EU macro - regional strategies. The Minister underlined the utmost importance of the Danube Strategy to our country, emphasizing the need for the timely launch of transnational programs on this strategy, consolidating the resources from various European funds. Over lunch, the ministers discussed with the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy the upcoming Council meeting on 24-25 October. Minister Vigenin stressed the importance of the prompt conclusion of the readmission agreement with Turkey, as well as the political commitment at the highest level for the full implementation of the commitments of Turkey to secure the borders with Bulgaria and Greece.