Blog

The new European border and coast guard control was launched in an official ceremony this autumn at the checkpoint Kapitan Andreevo, on the border between Turkey and Bulgaria. This border is also considered an external border of the European Union. The new task force was organized and built by the border management agency Frontex due to the overwhelming refugee situation.

The new European border and coast guard control will have new powers and more staff – approximately 1500 guards and technical equipment. In addition, liaison officers will be stationed in various states of the European Union that have external borders and will monitor the movements.

Until now Frontex was not able to offer effective control on the external borders of the European Union due to the lack of staff and the limited powers of the agency.

The European border agency have been inaugurated at Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint between Bulgaria and Turkey border in October this year. The two countries are now separated with a razor wire and a metal fence. The European border agency aims to be the main frontier on land for the migrants that want to enter Europe but avoid the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea.

Approximately 1500 officers and 19 state members will be at the disposal of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, who can be quickly mobilized if there is an emergency. Officials from the European Union hope that this will increase the security and will help the cooperation between the various member states that have been arguing in connection with the refugees.

It seems that the long-term goal is for lifting the border controls that are inside the block and for restoring the passport-free area of Schengen. The director of the EBCG, Fabrice Leggeri, stated that the new agency is well equipped and quite strong to cope with the security challenges and the migration situation.

According to Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Migration Commissioner, since the launching of the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the external border of Bulgaria becomes an external border of all member states. The agency will further be involved in the repatriation of those migrants that have been rejected from the asylum and are accepted as a threat to the security.

Bulgaria got a positive assessment by the Interior Minister of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak on a meeting he held with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Rumiana Bachvarova. The Bulgarian Prime Minister stated that Bulgaria has a very important role in guarding the most sensitive external border of the European Union, making all efforts possible to limit the illegal immigration. Bulgaria has a good organization that restricts the crossing of the illegal migrants. Thanks to that organization, the immigrants are restricted to cross Bulgaria as they are detained entrance on the country’s territory. This is a very strong message to the migrants stating that Bulgaria is not easy to cross.

Bulgaria gets support from the European states and officers coming from other countries. Currently are being detained around 200 people each week, which is less than the same period in 2015. The Deputy Prime Minister also stated that Bulgaria makes everything possible to guard its external border, which is also an external border of the European Union. The Polish guest showed the strong support of Poland for the accession of Bulgaria in the Schengen zone.

According to the reports, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria have sent a letter to the European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, where he brought up the issues of Bulgaria’s entry in the borderless Schengen area and the Eurozone. Sofia will be monitored under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, that is applied by Brussels.

The Prime Minister stated that the country will continue to work on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and the acceptance of Bulgaria in the Schengen zone. The country is also in ongoing talks for joining the Eurozone. According to the Prime Minister, once the three processes are completed successfully, the Bulgarian citizens will be happy to enjoy the benefits of the membership in the European Union and later also share the responsibilities.

The Prime Minister insisted that Bulgaria has fulfilled the Schengen criteria in 2011 and was blocked by the Netherlands and Finland. The official letter was intended as an act of gratitude for the decision of the Commission to launch the European Border and Coast Guard program.

Officials from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, countries that are outside the Schengen zone, have met with several other officials from countries that are already part of the Schengen area. The meeting was held in September in the Polish capital of Warsaw. The members of countries that are part of the Schengen borderless area that were invited in the meeting were Denmark and Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Switzerland, which is a non-EU member also send a delegate at the meeting.

The officials from Bulgaria, which was pushing for many years to join the passport free Schengen zone, are now feeling that Schengen is not that important for the country anymore. These statements of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria coincided with the remarks made by the Foreign Minister of Hungary who showed indications that Budapest will not necessarily support an entry by a Southeastern European nation into the Schengen zone.