Justice Minister Georgiev from Strasbourg: States Facing Migration Pressure Should Have Greater Flexibility to Protect National Interests

Bulgaria has called for broader powers for states to take measures to return migrants when necessary to protect national security and public order, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev said during an informal conference of Council of Europe justice ministers in Strasbourg today, December 10.

Bulgaria joined a joint statement from 27 member states of the Council of Europe, urging a more effective and balanced approach to migration that fully respects human rights in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The Strasbourg forum, convened by Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset, brings together representatives from all ECHR member states. Discussions focus on migration, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and the need to balance the protection of human rights, particularly of migrants, with the national security of individual states and their citizens. The conference is also attended by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Theodoros Roussopoulos, and representatives of the European Union.

In his address, Minister Georgiev emphasised the crucial and irreplaceable role of the ECtHR in protecting human rights, noting that Bulgaria has long faced sustained and significant migration pressure as an external border of the European Union and the Schengen area.

In recent years, migration issues, including in light of the Convention on Fundamental Rights and national border control measures, have sparked political debates in many Council of Europe member states. The informal conference aims to bring these discussions into the Council of Europe framework.

The conference conclusions are intended to set a shared commitment to a more effective and balanced implementation of the Convention in response to contemporary migration challenges, and to outline follow-up actions, including the drafting of a political declaration by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, new recommendations, and strengthened dialogue within the Council.