Minister Bode discusses with his Bulgarian counterpart about coordination of steps for accession to Schengen.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Lucian Bode, had, on Thursday, a meeting with Ivan Demerdzhiev, Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria, in which context the two officials discussed the management of challenges at the common border and the coordination steps for accession to the Schengen area, told Agerpres.
According to a release sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), the meeting represents a continuation of the constant dialogue held by the two dignitaries, since the beginning of this year, on the occasion of the JHA meetings, the participation in the Ministerial Conference in Sofia, respectively the meetings in the format video conference.
Lucian Bode and Ivan Demerdzhiev held an exchange of views regarding the discussions held with the ministers of interior from the EU member states in the perspective of coordinating the steps for accession to the Schengen area.
Also, measures were agreed to strengthen cooperation at the border to prevent and combat illegal migration and related crimes.
During the discussions, the good operational cooperation between the two countries was highlighted, by continuing the joint patrolling missions on the Bulgarian coast, in the summer season 2023, and by ensuring a rapid exchange of data and information.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the “Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum” international conference organized in Bucharest on May 18-19.