site.btaJustice Minister in Strasbourg: States under Strong Migratory Pressure Should Be Granted Greater Freedom to Protect National Security

Bulgaria believes that, under conditions of strong migratory pressure, states should be granted broader possibilities to undertake measures for the return of migrants when necessary for the protection of national security and public order, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev stated during an informal conference of justice ministers of the Council of Europe, held in Strasbourg, quoted by the Bulgarian Justice Ministry press centre on Wednesday.

Bulgaria has joined the joint declaration of Council of Europe Member States calling for a more effective and balanced approach to migration with full respect for human rights, in accordance with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The forum in Strasbourg is being held at the initiative of Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset and is attended by representatives of all states parties to the ECHR. The main issues under discussion are migration, the case-law of the European Court in Strasbourg, and the search for the necessary balance between the protection of human rights, particularly those of migrants, on the one hand, and the national security of individual states and their citizens, on the other. The conference is also attended by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Chair Theodoros Roussopoulos and representatives of the European Union.

In his address at the forum, Georgiev stated that the role of the ECHR is key and indispensable in the protection of human rights, and that Bulgaria is a country which for years has been subject to continuous and significant migratory pressure due to its position as an external border of the European Union and, consequently, of the Schengen area.

In recent years, the issues of migration, including in the context of the ECHR and national border control measures, have become a subject of political debate in many Council of Europe Member States and between them. The aim of the informal conference is to bring this discussion within the framework of the Council of Europe.

The objective of the conference conclusions is to establish a common commitment to a more effective and balanced application of the ECHR in relation to contemporary migration challenges and to outline the next steps - the drafting of a political declaration by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, new recommendations and a strengthening of dialogue within the Council of Europe.

Also on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels that the EU’s border agency Frontex should be tripled in size to 30,000 staff. She added that the EU is working to drive people smugglers into bankruptcy and expand legal migration routes to Europe.