Having given his support to Turkey‘s demand for the establishment of a safe zone in Syria at the European Council recently, at the end of this week, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov once again discussed the matter, this time at a one-on-one meeting with the Council President Donald Tusk in Varna. In just a few days‘ time, and again at a one-on-one, Borissov is to continue the discussion in Turkey with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. This is no easy discussion, in view of the serious reservations about a safe zone within the EU itself.

Right before his visit to Bulgaria, Donald Tusk stated that Europe without its external borders equaled Europe without Schengen. In Varna he added that there was now a shared understanding between all EU heads of state or government that restoring the control of the EU's external borders was a primary task. Today Bulgaria is perhaps the best example, also for other member states, of how to protect its borders, he added. External border control will be put to discussion again at the EU next week to review what has been achieved and agree on the next steps, Tusk said, making it clear that his talks with PM Borissov in Varna had been an element of the groundwork for continuing the discussion.

The visit to Bulgaria by Donald Tusk afforded PM Borissov the opportunity to highlight the Bulgarian government‘s understanding that an ISIS-free safe zone must be established on the territory of Syria so that its citizens may be kept close to their birth places and once the conflict is over, to be able to return to them. During his recent talks with the Turkish Prime Minister and with Donald Tusk, Boyko Borissov cautioned  that any other decisions were precarious and would mean a big problem for the EU countries. The Bulgarian PM affirmed that the government was not planning the construction of any new refugee centres in Bulgaria, because the measures taken along the country‘s land and sea borders had reinforced control to such an extent that no such step was needed.

Contrary to all expectations, the subject of Bulgaria‘s accession to Schengen was not broached. PM Borissov commented that to even raise the issue would be an insult, given that in the conditions of the refugee crisis, half of the European countries had failed as Schengen borders. The government will not insist that the question of Schengen accession be put on the agenda because, given the circumstances, it is expecting the European partners to come to the realization just how unfair they have been to refuse Bulgaria accession.

English version: Milena Daynova