‘Where are European politicians?’ FURY at EU ignorance while Russia & Turkey discuss Syria
THE Bulgarian prime minister has condemned his European counterparts for their passive attitude towards immigration and urged them to take action.
Speaking in Italy following a meeting with Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, Bojko Borissov called on European leaders to follow the lead of their Russian and Turkish counterparts and make efforts to solve the issues that prompted the crisis.
Mr Borissov asked: "Yesterday, Putin and Erdogan decided on the future of Syria, but where are European politicians?"
He accused EU members of “passively” accepting migration flows as the consequence of a crisis that Europe did not create.
Mr Borissov said his own country’s policy towards migrants should be an example to others in Europe.
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He said: "Italy spends money and makes efforts by investing in Libya for on-site centres for refugees and migrants, but this policy cannot continue.
"That's why we need to do as Bulgaria and restrict economic migrants and close borders to foreigners, no matter at what cost."
The EU has faced growing criticism over the recent handling of migration issues, with the United Nations (UN) describing the Brussels policy of aiding Libyan authorities to intercept migrants and return them to detention as "inhuman”.
EPA
The deal has caused the number of detainees in Libya to rise sharply, and UN monitors who visited facilities said they found "thousands of emaciated and traumatised men, women and children piled on top of each other".
Thousands of migrants have died trying to travel across the Mediterranean to European shores, and in august Italy and the EU agreed a deal to train the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats.
However, this has led to a huge increase in the number of detainees.
In Europe, leaders are slowly starting to agree with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, the firebrand leader who remains a staunch critic of Brussels’ immigration policy.
TASS
Two years ago, he said Europe’s open-door migration policy would “destabilise democracies” - something which he was vindicated for.
Even EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker has been forced to admit there are problems with EU security.
In his State of the Union address in September, Juncker said: “We are now protecting Europe’s external borders more effectively.
“When it comes to returns: People who have no right to stay in Europe must be returned to their countries of origin.”
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega
