Bulgarian, Macedonian presidents call for joint action to deal with crises

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and his Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov said Thursday that European countries should act together in solidarity to tackle today's challenges such as immigration and terrorism.

"Today, Europe faces a number of key challenges including migration, terrorism, economic and political instability, and no single country is able to tackle it all alone," Plevneliev said addressing an international conference on partnership and neighborhood in Europe.

All these challenges transcend national boundaries and they urge countries to take decisive actions together, bravely, and worldwide, he said.

"The elevation of borders -- whether they are territorial, economic or legal -- is a tempting, but temporary solution," Plevneliev added.

"The EU is a united family," he said, and as in every family, everyone should be ready to give, even to sacrifice their own comfort and wealth to help.

"If we are not a family, if we do not support the European identity and the fact that we are together and have a mission, the EU will fail," Plevneliev said.

The refugee crisis in Europe is an embodiment of the need to build better mechanisms for taking long-term common decisions, he added.

Ivanov, for his part, said European principles "unite us rather than divide us."

One of these principles is solidarity towards the weak, the powerless and the oppressed, he said.

After World War II, the world showed solidarity towards the destroyed Europe, Ivanov said. "Today, we expect solidarity from Europe to the Middle East and North Africa. Europe is bound to be in solidarity with the region it owes so much to," he said.

The migrant crisis has reminded the EU that the Balkans is a European artery, a key European corridor connecting Europe with the Middle East and North Africa, Ivanov said.

The EU allowed the Balkan corridor to turn into a labyrinth in which both the migrants and the EU candidate countries got stuck, he said.

"Now, both the countries and the migrants suffer the consequences of the failure of the Union. And the problematic categories such as organized criminal groups and their networks manage their way through this labyrinth with ease," Ivanov said.

Mladen Ivanic, chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, will also participate in the two-day conference on Friday. Endit