Shortly after the European Commission reported that as a result of the EU agreement with Turkey aimed to tackle the refugee crisis the number of illegal migrants decreased, foreign and interior ministers of Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia and Albania held a meeting on April21 and 22 in Thessalonica to discuss the refugee crisis. Data presented by the Bulgarian delegation confirmed the findings of Brussels. The number of attempts of illegal migrants to cross the Bulgarian border in the past month has decreased by 30 percent compared to the same period last year. The influx of migrants from Greece is relatively small and only about 170 people were detained at the border there. Bulgaria explains the decline in migratory pressure with active measures taken by Turkey to deter migrants from making illegal crossings.

However, participants in the Thessalonica meeting focused on the need to improve the fight against trafficking networks. This shows that Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia and Albania do not see the reduction of migratory pressure as something permanent and do not rely solely on the actions of the EU and Turkey, as they want to keep the problem under their control. Ongoing trainings related to the so-called Plan B for action confirm this. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov says Plan B will be used if the agreement between Turkey and the EU stopped working. Preparations for Plan B are entirely justified. On the one hand the deal between the EU and Turkey is opposed by a number of human rights organizations and on the other - Turkey itself has warned that it might stop applying the agreement, if travel restrictions on Turkish citizens in the visa-free Schengen zone were not eased. Under the agreement with the EU, Turkey must fulfill 72 conditions in order its citizens to be allowed free travel, but to this day Turkey has met half of the requirements.

The meeting in Thessalonica also showed that at this stage the main goal of the four countries is active cooperation to prevent the formation of a new refugee route through the Balkans. Other neighbouring countries could also join this cooperation. This is also why similar meetings will take place every six months or more frequently if necessary and other countries could join them.

The need for a unified approach in dealing with the refugee crisis both at regional and European levels was also part of the discussion in Greece. In the near future efforts to unify approaches to the migration problem can be expected. In this respect, Sofia continues to call for precise distinction between refugees and economic migrants and for applying not only the rules of international protection, but also the rules for readmission of illegal immigrants. In other words, Sofia wants a balance between democratic values ​​and security, as absence of such a balance has led to aggravating the refugee problem and its effects on Europe.

The major conclusions after the meeting in Thessalonica, are that despite initial reassuring results after the EU-Turkey agreement, challenges stemming from the refugee crisis continue to emerge and remain a primary concern for the Balkan countries.

English: Alexander Markov