On Tuesday, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister György Bakondi told public television channel M1 that the idea of Bulgaria joining the Schengen Area also arose as a potential solution to the migration wave.
The Chief Security Advisor said that one of the reasons of the problem is that Greece – in spite of its Schengen membership – lets migrants cross the country. Therefore, in order to stop the uncontrolled mass influx of migrants, the proposal of providing substantial support to the non-EU member state Macedonia was also discussed.
In spite of being a member of the EU, Bulgaria is not part of the Schengen Area, and even though the Western Balkans migrant route does not affect them currently, they are constructing a 30 kilometre-long fence along the Turkish-Bulgarian border section in order to prevent migrants crossing their borders illegally.