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Bulgarian, Italian FMs discuss refugee crisis

Xinhua, November 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni met here on Monday to coordinate the positions of their countries on hot issues, paying special attention to refugee crisis.

"Ministers Mitov and Gentiloni agreed on the principled position that tackling the migration problem requires a common European approach and development of a clear mechanism to differentiate the economic migrants from refugees," Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website after the meeting.

The two top diplomats also agreed that the introduction of more severe penalties for traffickers of people is needed, the statement said.

Mitov stressed the need to work with third countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, to alleviate the living conditions of refugees in these countries in order to avoid mass attempt to leave for European Union (EU) countries.

Mitov said the situation is complicated also because different types of countries face the migration problem, including member states of the EU and Schengen, EU member states that are not members of the Schengen area, and countries candidates for accession to the EU that are not members of Schengen.

"In this connection, the Italian foreign minister expressed the firm support of his country for Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area," the statement said.

The two ministers also agreed that the European perspective of the Western Balkans should be maintained, and the reforms in these countries have to be encouraged, the statement said. Endit