PM advisor welcomes EU help for Bulgaria

Budapest, September 18 (MTI) – The European Union’s decision to provide emergency aid to Bulgaria, with a view to helping it protect its borders against the flow of migrants, is a positive outcome of the Bratislava EU summit, the prime minister’s chief security advisor said late on the weekend.

The Bulgarian-Turkish border will be a key area in terms of the influx of migrants over the coming weeks, György Bakondi told public news channel M1.

He said currently over 65,000 registered migrants in Greece were looking for new routes to get to western Europe. One of these routes leads through Bulgaria while the other goes through Albania, Kosovo, Serbia leading to Hungary or the Hungarian-Serbian-Romanian border, Bakondi said.

He said most EU leaders at the Bratislava summit supported the idea of setting up a joint European army. Although no more than an idea for now, it is an important one because Britain’s exit from the EU has brought about a new security situation, Bakondi said. He noted that the EU faces serious challenges both in the east, in the form of the Ukraine conflict, and in the south from the waves of migrants arriving in Italy and Greece.

Bakondi said the Visegrad Group’s “realistic” proposals concerning the management of the migrant crisis could eventually prove attractive to Austria or even other member states.

Meanwhile, the national police headquarters announced on Sunday that a contingent of 49 Polish police officers had arrived in Hungary to help patrol the Hungarian-Serbian border.

The Polish officers are aiding Hungary’s border protection efforts as part of a cooperation framework of the V4 grouping. The contingent’s mission will last until October 29, the national police said on its website.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI