Austria will Support the Accession of Bulgaria to Schengen

Austria will support the accession of Bulgaria to the Schengen area, Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz said during his first visit to Bulgaria on 15^th of March.

The protection of the external borders, security, the forthcoming EU-Turkey summit, the EU budget and the bilateral relations were the topics of the talks between Kurz and the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. The focus of the visit is on the continuity in the themes of the Bulgarian and Austrian presidencies of the Council of the European Union.

Support for Bulgaria's membership in Schengen was the big news from the meeting between the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Bulgarian Prime Minister Borisov. It marks a radical change in Austria's position. Germany, Austria and the Netherlands were the countries that firmly opposed Bulgaria's accession to Schengen. The support was also expressed with great gratitude for Bulgaria's efforts to protect the EU's external border and the hope expressed by Sebastian Kurz that other countries will follow the Bulgarian example.

We are pleased to have the opportunity to support the entry of Bulgaria in the Schengen area. There is no country in Europe that has invested so much effort in protecting the external borders, Sebastian Kurz said during a joint press conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

It is a fact that everyone in Europe appreciates that the Bulgarian state has done so that everyone appreciates the efforts that we have made. We currently have zero migratory pressure, PM Borissov said.

Bulgaria and Austria do not share the same position with regard to the new EU financial framework, which needs to be clarified during the Bulgarian and Austrian presidency. According to Austria, Member States' contributions should not increase, while Bulgaria already supports such a measure. Kurtz said that EU spending should be allocated more rationally in view of Brexit.

The planned EU-Turkey summit was also among the topics of the talks between the two leaders. The two of them united around the fact that cooperation with Turkey was very important for the continuation of the migration agreement, but there were differences in their positions regarding the issue of Turkey's EU membership. Kurz firmly said that such thing at the moment is not possible. Borissov called for diplomacy, not opposition.

In terms of security and migration, the two united around the view that migrants should cross through established checkpoints and the past of those who want to get asylum in the EU should be closely monitored. According to the two leaders, this is the compromise that will lead to a successful reform of the Dublin Regulation. They were also unanimous for the European integration aspirations of the Western Balkan countries. They said that both Bulgaria and Austria supported their accession to the EU.

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