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Bulgaria Warns Citizens Against Travel Through Hungary
Bulgaria has warned its citizens to avoid travel by train or road through the territory of Hungary due to concentration of refugees at the country's borders with Austria and Serbia.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry recommended to use alternative routes through Romania and Slovakia or via Serbia and Slovenia.
Bulgaria, Serbia PMs Discuss Migrant Crisis in Europe, Impact on Balkans
The prime ministers of Balkan neighbours Bulgaria and Serbia discussed the migration crisis in Europe and its implications for the region on Thursday, the Bulgarian government's press office announced.
Bulgaria, Romania Need Political Decision to Join Schengen - EU Commission
The European Commission said on Thursday that Bulgaria and Romania both meet the criteria to join the European Union's Schengen passport-free travel zone but it is not up to the EU's executive body to take a decision.
Deputy PM: Schengen Accession of Bulgaria, Romania Is Key for Solving Refugee Crisis
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva stated on Wednesday that the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area is part of the solution to the unprecedented refugee crisis affecting Europe.
According to her, this was the case especially now that changes to guarding the external borders of the EU were being discussed.
Balkan States Told to Take in More Refugees
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, on Wednesday proposed a new plan for accepting 160,000 refugees in the EU and at the same time proposed that non-EU countries in the Western Balkans be put on a list of safe countries.
The proposition presented to the European Parliament adds another 40,000 to an existing plan for quotas set in May.
Juncker Unveils New EU Migrant Quotas Proposal
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has officially proposed the introduction of binding quotas of asylum seekers each member state is to fill.
In his first State of the Union speech as head of the EU's executive body, Juncker has said the distribution of migrants is to involve some 120 000 people more than had been previously planned.
FM: Refugee Crisis Is Argument in Favour of Bulgaria's Accession to Schengen
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said on Tuesday that the refugee crisis represented an additional argument in favour of Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen Area.
According to Mitov, the accession of Bulgaria would facilitate the exchange of information, including data on the refugee wave between the countries of the Schengen Area.
Romania States its Price For Taking in Refugees
Romania's Supreme Defence Council is to decide next week how many refugees the country can accomodate, but the number cannot exceed the current capacity of some 1,500 places in six reception centres, Prime Minister Ponta announced on Monday.
Bulgaria's Interior Ministry to Focus on Illegal Migration
Bulgaria is handling well the flow of legal migrants arriving in the country, according to Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova.
"We manage to deal with the migration problem, registering all those who enter legally, taking their fingerprints," Bachvarova told parliament on Wednesday.
Romanians Argue Over Taking in Migrants
The first immigrants that Romania has agreed to take in at the EU's request will arrive in November, presidential adviser Leonard Orban, has said, although the government promptly declined to confirm this.
'Bulgaria Missed a Brilliant Foreign Policy Opportunity'
Bulgaria should have called a regional summit to tackle the migrant crisis, instead of mobilizing the army to guard its borders, a recent analysis reads on the EUInside.
It says the former option would have helped see what is most needed by countries affected by the influx of migrants such as Serbia, Macedonia and Greece.
Workers from Bulgaria, Romania Arriving in Britain Nearly Double in Year to March
Workers from Romania and Bulgaria have led a jump in European migration to Britain, the Daily Mail reported in its online edition.
"Some 53,000 people from the two countries arrived in the year to March - nearly double the 28,000 in the previous 12 months," according to dailymail.co.uk.
Spike in Romanians, Bulgarians, Creates Heat in UK
Britain's Conservative government is facing political heavy weather over the sharp rise in immigration recorded over the last year, including a major spike in the numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians coming to the UK.
Migrant Deaths Cast Pall Over Balkan Summit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, attending the Western Balkan summit in Vienna, on Thursday said she was "shaken" by the news that the bodies of at least 20 dead migrants - and possibly as many as 40 or 50 - had been found in an abandoned lorry in eastern Austria.
The remains were discovered on Thursday morning on a motorway between Neusiedl and Parndorf.
UN: Bulgaria Faces World's Bleakest Demographic Prospects by 2050
Bulgaria faces the bleakest demographic prospects on a global scale over the next 35 years, according to the 2015 World Population Prospects report of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
In the period 2015-2050, Bulgaria's population is expected to shrink by 27.9%.