European Union leaders agreed to use all their influence, including trade, development aid and visa policy, to speed up the return of those who entered illegally the migrant bloc. They asked the European Commission to urgently draft a bill. At the European Council in Brussels, the 27 also backed Poland's plan to temporarily stop accepting asylum applications from refugees being brought across the country's eastern border by Belarus and Russia. The heads of state and government also discussed the establishment of reception centers in countries outside the European Union. Thus, migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected will be able to wait for their deportation. Germany believes that tightening border controls and speedy returns would be more beneficial.
The topic was commented on on the air of “Tvoya den” the security expert Atanas Rusev and the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Filip Gunev. Both are of the opinion that the debate will continue violently and for a long time. According to Rusev, there will be pilot projects from which he does not expect great results.
„It will take a long time to find a solution. "Bulgaria is preparing for better border security," Gunev claims.
„Reception centers as an idea started in Great Britain. We know that they wanted to do those for sending pending decisions or received decisions to deport third-country nationals. There is a smaller project of Denmark which is with Kosovo. However, they tend to send citizens of third countries who have committed crimes there. That is, the rich countries started looking for their own salvation from the problems created by the current legislative framework of the EU regarding illegal migration. This causes concern in all other member countries”, explained the security expert.
„It will neither be easy nor cheap with these centers. The EC outlined that next year they will consider two options. One is what Italy is doing more or less right now. Those arriving by sea should not enter the EU at all, but should be sent directly to such centers. There are none so far. Italy does it with Albania. They arrive at the island of Lampetusa and from there they are caught and loaded. The EU wants this type of centers to be built outside the territory of the Union", believes the former Deputy Minister of the Interior.
According to Rusev, the problem is purely legislative.
„In the EU, there is a very strong legislation based on these values of protecting human rights. A large part of this impossibility to return emigrants is rooted in precisely these principles. At this stage, this type of solution with outsourced centers is an attempt to circumvent this legislation,”, he claims.