EU
#Bratislava Declaration and Commission announcement of up to €108 million in support to Bulgaria for border and migration management
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has taken part in the informal meeting of the EU 27 heads of state and government. The meeting agreed the Bratislava Declaration and Road Map, which welcomes the State of the Union speech of the president and sets out clear priorities for action over the next 12 months.
President Juncker confirmed that the EU is already responding to Bulgaria's request for support as it faces growing migratory pressures on its border with Turkey. This support will include at least 200 extra border guards and 50 extra vehicles to be deployed as of October. The President announced that the EU will also provide €108 million in emergency funding to strengthen Bulgaria's reception capacities. The aim is to raise the figure to €160m in the coming weeks, to fully respond to the needs of the Bulgarian government.
Following the announcement made by President Juncker and ongoing contact with the Bulgarian authorities over the past months, Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "From the very beginning already, the Commission has been supporting all member states to manage the refugee crisis - and Bulgaria is no exception. Bulgaria's efforts and commitments to ensure an efficient management of its external EU border are essential.
"The fast tracking of the requests received last night from the Bulgarian authorities shows that we are fully committed to providing additional assistance when justified and that Bulgaria, as a frontline member state guarding our external borders, receives our full support in doing so. This once again proves that the external border of one member state is the external border of all member states."
The funding will be used to strengthen the management of migration flows, increase reception capacities and the capacities of the asylum service as well as strengthen border surveillance and border control activities.
The Commission will also proceed with the rapid assessment of further emergency applications received for an additional amount of €52m.
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