BULGARIA’S PRESIDENT RADEV IN GERMANY REMINDED THAT BULGARIA SHOULD JOIN SCHENGEN

During his official visit to Germany on 6th of February, Bulgaria’s President Roumen Radev urged for faster accession of Bulgaria to the Schengen area.

Radev pointed out that there was no way for Bulgaria to effectively protect Europe’s external borders unless it was given access to the Schengen Information System.

Bulgaria’s Head of State is on an official visit to Germany at the invitation of his German counterpart, President Joachim Gauck.

Speaking at a joint press conference, President Radev said that Germany was a strategic, economic and investment partner.

The two presidents agreed that the overall objective of the countries was strong and united Europe. Joachim Gauck praised Bulgaria for successfully protectibng the external borders of the EU. Radev assured that this would continue, but Bulgaria would also count on greater European solidarity, not only in the form of personnel, technical equipment and resources, but as a support for a long-term operational planning to deal with the migrant crisis. Radev reminded that our country should become part of the Schengen area because it had fulfilled all requirements.

“There is no way for Bulgaria to effectively protect Europe’s external borders unless it has access to the Schengen Information System. The lack of access to the system increases the risk for all European citizens, Bulgarian President Roumen Radev said.

"We recognize how actively Bulgaria is engaged in the protection of the European external border." Joachim Gauck, President of Germany, said.

Gauck said that the fight against corruption in Bulgaria was monitored carefully.

Radev noted that our country had a strong determination to overcome the problem.

Joachim Gauck: What in Germany and Europe we are interested in is an internal political challenge that Bulgaria has to tackle - it is to fight against corruption. We know that for a long time work has been done on the issue at parliamentary level and I hope to have results soon.

At the end of the meeting, Joachim Gauck congratulated the Bulgarian president for his excellent German. Radev reminded that over 240,000 Bulgarians lived in in Germany and urged them not to forget their homeland and to work to deepen bilateral relations.

Later, President Radev participated in an economic forum organized by the German Chamber of Commerce and industry. The forum was attended by more than a hundred German companies.

photos by BTA