Tusk urges EU leaders to help protect Bulgarian border

The President of the European Council Friday called upon members of the European Union to help Bulgaria prevent illegal immigration across its Turkish frontier.

At a press conference in Tallin alongside Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, Donald Tusk said he would appeal to the 27 EU leaders to help Bulgaria bolster its borders against illegal crossings.

“We need to show that we are aware, determined and capable of handling the biggest concern,” he said.

Since the closure of the Balkan route, which crossed from Turkey through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, and Austria all the way to Germany, human traffickers began moving refugees through Bulgaria.

Tusk said he would ask for support for Bulgaria in the form of border guards and equipment.

“Never again can we allow our borders to be overrun by waves of irregular migrants as in 2015,” he said, following another informal meeting on Friday with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

His meetings with Roivas and Löfven preceded next week’s informal EU meeting in Bratislava, which is expected to involve discussions on the EU’s postBrexit future.

“To me the aim of the Bratislava summit is to bring back the political control of our common future,” he said.

Donald Tusk ommitted the United Kingdom when numbering the EU members.