Bulgaria and the EU member states that are confronted with a problem related to the inflow of refugees, should not be left to solve their problems on their own, but should seek assistance and support on a European level, President Rosen Plevneliev said during the meeting he held with the ambassadors of Italy and Greece to Bulgaria. These two countries are placed under an increased migration pressure and over 70,000 refugees have settled on their territories.

Rosen Plevneliev, Marco Konticelli and Demostenis Stoidis shared the opinion that the refugees are not a problem of the individual member states only, but a problem of the whole EU. In this respect displaying solidarity within the EU and taking measures on a European level is of extreme importance. An EU Strategy on refugees and illegal immigrants should be worked out. This will be a priority issue of the Greek and Italian EU presidency in 2014, the two ambassadors said. The established special working group under the European Commission’s presidency is also expected to put forward concrete suggestions.

President Rosen Plevneliev said that at the forthcoming EU Eastern Partnership summit to be held in Vilnius at the end of November the European leaders will address the issues of adopting an integrated EU approach to the inflow of refugees, of securing greater solidarity and taking joint measures to solve the problem.